Key takeaways:
The uninsured population has increased to 13% over the last year, a troubling statistic that may be due to COVID-19-related unemployment and the associated financial burden.
Three-quarters of Americans take at least one prescription medication, and over 28% of people take a prescription that is not covered by their health insurance.
In the past year, 13% of Americans had a prescription medication dropped by their health insurance plan.
Despite many Americans’ economic struggles due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they are not getting much respite from their health insurance plans.
The GoodRx Research team surveyed over 1,000 people in the United States to find out whether their health insurance costs had increased since last year. The survey was conducted through Google Surveys and ran from January 25 to January 28, 2021. The 1,202 respondents included Americans of all genders and ages. The GoodRx team runs this survey annually. More information about Google Surveys’ methodology can be found here.
Our main findings are below. Overall, we found that more people have become uninsured over the past year. Many of those who have insurance are paying more for it, and there’s no guarantee that it will cover their medications.
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The uninsured population is increasing
Based on our survey, about 13% of people do not have any form of health insurance that helps pay for prescription medications. The COVID-19 pandemic has likely worsened uninsured rates: In 2019, the nationwide uninsured rate (for plans that offer some prescription drug coverage) based on our survey was 11%.
Most people in the U.S. are insured through their employer (46%), followed by Medicare and Medicaid (23%). Some are also insured through the health insurance marketplace or another source (18%).
Health insurance premiums have increased for over one-third of people
A health insurance premium is the amount an enrollee pays each month for a given plan. Based on our survey, the health insurance premiums of 34% of people increased from last year. People who get insurance from their employer make up the majority (60%) of those in our survey who saw increased premiums over the last year. However, even people insured through Medicare, Medicaid, or the health exchange saw an increase.
A quarter of insured patients saw higher out-of-pocket costs
Out-of-pocket costs for insured patients include deductibles, copays, and coinsurance. A deductible is the amount a person must pay out of pocket before their plan will cover any expenses, and a copay/coinsurance is the amount that a person pays out of pocket for their prescription medication.
Even though we asked about deductibles and coinsurance separately, the results for the two questions were nearly identical. Almost a quarter of people in our survey have had deductibles and coinsurance increase over the past year versus just 4% to 5% who saw a decrease. Again, most people reporting increases were enrolled in employer-sponsored insurance (60%).
Another 56% of respondents reported that their deductibles and coinsurance stayed the same as compared to last year.
Fewer people are enrolled in high-deductible health plans
In our survey at the end of 2018, we found 45% of people had a high-deductible health plan (HDHP). This year, about 2 years later, that number is down to 33%.
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HDHPs are a good option for people trying to avoid premiums, but they can be financially risky if emergency care is required. Past research has also found that more adults that are enrolled in HDHPs have unmet medical or prescription drug needs than adults enrolled in a traditional health plan.
In our survey, we also found that most people with HDHPs are not satisfied with the prescription drug coverage they get with these plans.
Prescription drug coverage remains inadequate for many
Three-quarters of the people we surveyed took at least one prescription medication. Most people who take prescription drugs rely on insurance to help cover the cost. Unfortunately, prescription drug coverage hasn’t gotten much better since our last survey, leaving patients responsible for the full cost of the drug if it’s not covered.
About 13% of people had at least one prescription medication dropped from their insurance coverage in the last year. While this is a slight decrease from our 2019 findings, it is still a troubling sign.
In addition, 28% of people report taking a prescription that is not covered by their insurance plan — this is the same percentage as in 2019. While just over half of this group spends less than $50 on these non-covered medications monthly, the rest spend up to $300 or more monthly.
Summing it all up
In conclusion, we’re not seeing great strides in healthcare coverage for many Americans. Prescription drug coverage continues to be an issue facing many people and will likely continue to be a financial burden across the country.
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Co-contributors: Jeroen van Meijgaard, PhD
Methodology
Our survey was run through Google Surveys and was entirely composed of Android smartphone users. The survey ran from January 25 to January 28, 2021; a total of 1,202 responses were collected and analyzed. Survey responses were weighted to the U.S. population using age, gender, and geographical location. More information on the Google Survey methodology is available here.
See previous GoodRx reports on insurance options here:
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