Do seniors get the medicines prescribed for them? Evidence from the 1996-1999 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey

Using the 1996-1999 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey, we examine trends in nonacquisition of prescribed medicines among seniors. Each year less than 3 percent of seniors reported not getting the medicines that were prescribed for them, most often for economic reasons, but they also noted reasons relating to their preferences about using medicines. The presence or absence of drug coverage and chronic disease did not appreciably change this percentage, which suggests that a Medicare drug benefit may not greatly increase seniors' acquisition of their prescribed medicines.