PHP74 - Health Insurance Coverage and Statin Prescription Among Adults in The US

Abstract

Elevated blood cholesterol is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the US, and statin therapy has been strongly associated with a reduced risk of atherosclerotic CVD. Availability of health insurance is an important predictor for the prescription of drugs. This study aims to study whether insurance coverage and type of health insurance was associated with statin therapy. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) Data was used to examine health insurance and statin prescriptions from 2009 to 2014. The study population included adults over the age 18. STATA (version 14.1) was used to run a logistic regression model to study the effects on health insurance on prescription of statins by physicians. Of the 29,852 individuals in our sample, 32.5% were prescribed statins. Overall, 84.64% were covered by health insurance where 45.4% were covered by private insurance, 23.3% were covered by Medicaid, 12.72% were covered by Medicare, and 2.91% were covered by a government plan. People who were covered by health insurance were 1.31 times (OR 1.31: CI 1.13-1.50) more likely to be prescribed statins compared to people who did not have health insurance. People covered by private health insurance were 0.2 times (OR 0.80: CI 0.66-0.96) less likely; covered by Medicare are 4.34 times (OR 4.34: CI 3.97-4.75) more likely; and covered by other government health insurance plans are 1.23 times (OR 1.23: CI 1.05-1.42) more likely to be prescribed statins compared to people with no insurance. Individuals who had health insurance were more likely to be prescribed statins; emphasizing the importance of health insurance coverage to receive live-saving therapies. Individuals covered by private health insurance plans were less likely to be prescribed statins warranting further research into potential restrictions among private health insurance plans.