Noncompliance occurs across all age, sex, ethnic and economic groups and accounts for over 125,000 deaths annually. Many patients stop taking their medication as soon as they feel better. Others with serious problems such as high cholesterol nevertheless feel well so don't remember to maintain their course of treatment. Others adjust their dosage without consulting their doctor. Noncompliance is less likely to occur with patients who thoroughly understand the purpose of their prescriptions.
Consumers can even participate in efforts to manage prescription drug costs.
Your use of generic drugs whenever possible will save money for both you and your health care plan. The active ingredients in generic drugs are identical to their brand name equivalents and have met the same federal standards. The primary difference is that they cost 40 to 60 percent less than their brand name counterparts. If your plan offers the lowest co-payment for generic drugs, you are probably already aware of that difference. Most managed care plans encourage physicians to prescribe therapeutically equivalent generic drugs over brand names.