Elders Skip Meds , Even After Part D Can Not Afford

WASHINGTON By Will Dunham

Patients classified as the sickest reported no improvement in skipping medications because they could not afford to pay for them even after the Part D benefit began.

These people, accounting for about 27 percent of the overall group, skipped their pills at about twice the rate of healthier patients in 2004 and 2005, Madden's team found.

Skipping pills can cause health problems such as heart attack, stroke and preventable hospitalization, the researchers noted.