What will loss of insurance do to people who already can’t afford their medicines? Elizabeth Tracey reports

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Only one-quarter of people who could benefit from a cholesterol lowering drug were taking one, a recent study by Caleb Alexander, a drug efficacy expert at Johns Hopkins, and colleagues has shown. Alexander says that number is likely to go even lower when cuts to insurance and rising coverage prices are implemented.

Alexander: Prescription drug coverage and the cost of these therapies is an important facilitator or barrier to their use. There are many people in the United states already that report cost related nonadherence. Up to 20 to 30% of people report in the past year that they skipped or stretched a medicine because of cost so I think if there are 10 to 15,000,000 Americans that have lost coverage because they've lost Medicaid insurance those individuals are going to have a harder time managing to fill and maintain their prescription drugs.                     :34

At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.