The influence of medical insurance and cost of prescribed medicines on patient’s decision-making in Palestine

Abstract EN

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of medical insurance and cost of prescribed medicines on patient’s drug decisionmaking in Palestine.

One hundred and forty seven (147 ; group I) patients who get and pay for their medications from community pharmacies were compared with one hundred and fifty one (151 ; group II) patients who get their medications for free from charitable clinics were compared regarding their prescription filling behavior.

Results showed that cost of prescribed medicines is an influencing factor when making medication-related decisions by patients.

53.7 % of patients who pay for their medication show prescription compliance, while 96 % of patients who get the medications for free show prescription compliance.

This study shows that cost is an influential factor in prescription compliance and should encourage the health authorities to increase the health insurance coverage especially for low income patients and to review the prices of pharmaceuticals in the Palestinian market.