FYI...I thought the group would find this of interest..

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality


Many Chronically Ill Patients Don't Tell Their Doctors That They
Limit Use of Prescription Drugs Because of Cost

A new AHRQ-funded study shows that about two-thirds of chronically ill
adults who cut back on their medications because of the cost don't
tell
their doctors in advance. The researchers found that most patients who
failed to talk with their clinicians about medication costs said that
none
of their providers asked them about possible problems paying for their
treatments. Patients also reported that they didn't think their
clinicians
would be able to help them with this problem or that they were too
embarrassed to discuss issues related to cost. Most patients who did
discuss
the cost of prescription drugs with their clinicians found their
clinicians
to be helpful, and they received a variety of forms of assistance
such as
free samples or a change in their regimen to a less-expensive or
generic
alternative. The study, led by John D. Piette, Ph.D., and his
colleagues
from the Center for Practice Management and Outcomes Research at the
VA Ann
Arbor Healthcare System, was published in the September 13 issue of
the
Archives of Internal Medicine. Select to read our press release
<http://www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr2004/chrcostpr.htm> and select to
read
the abstract
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?
cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=A
bstract&list_uids=15364667> on PubMed(r).