Healthcare and prescription medication affordability in adults with diabetes in the United States, 2020-2023.

AIMS: To examine the current affordability of healthcare and prescription medicine for adults with diabetes.

METHODS

Data from US National Health Interview Survey 2020-2023 were utilized in a cross-sectional analysis to investigate healthcare and prescription medication affordability among individuals with diabetes.

RESULTS

Among the 117,536 adults (weighted sample: 253 million), 9.6 % reported diabetes. Individuals with diabetes indicated lower healthcare affordability compared to their non-diabetic counterparts. Among individuals with diabetes, 11.4 % (95 % confidence interval [CI]: 10.7-12.1 %), estimated 2.7 million individuals, reported their inability to pay their medical bills.Factors such as nonelderly age (<65 years), female, low-income status, non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic individuals, higher comorbidity burden, and lack of insurance were independently associated with financial hardship.Individuals with diabetes consistently faced challenges in affording their prescription medications, with 14.3 % (95 % CI: 13.5-15.1 %) experiencing cost-related medication nonadherence, higher than the general US adult population at 9.6 % (95 % CI: 9.3-9.9 %). Younger age (<65 years), female gender, low-income status, South or West region residence, higher comorbidity burden, and lack of insurance were independently correlated with cost-related medication nonadherence.

CONCLUSIONS

Adults with diabetes face challenges in healthcare and prescription medication affordability compared to those without diabetes and the general population, particularly evident among nonelderly adults.