The affordability of prescription medicines in Australia: are copayments and safety net thresholds too high?

OBJECTIVE: To create and report survey-based indicators of the affordability of prescription medicines for patients in Australia. METHOD: A cross-sectional study of 1502 randomly selected participants in the Hunter Region of NSW, were interviewed by telephone. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The self-reported financial burden of obtaining prescription medicines. RESULTS: Data collection was completed with a response rate of 59.0%. Participants who had received and filled at least one prescription medicine in the previous 3 months, and eligible for analysis (n=952), were asked to self-report the level of financial burden from obtaining these medicines. Extreme and heavy financial burdens were reported by 2.1% and 6.8% of participants, respectively. A moderate level of burden was experienced by a further 19.5%. Low burden was recorded for participants who said that their prescription medicines presented either a slight burden (29.0%) or were no burden at all (42.6%). CONCLUSION: A substantial minority of participants who had obtained prescription medicines in the 3 months prior to survey experienced a level of financial burden from the cost of these medicines that was reported as being moderate to extreme.