Association of VA Medication Copayment Restructuring With Pharmacy Use, Medication Costs, and Financial Burden of Medications

In February 2017, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) restructured outpatient medication copayments, creating three medication tiers comparable with private-sector value-based insurance designs (with copayments: US$5, US$8, US$11 per 30-day supply for Tiers 1–3, respectively); however, Veteran medication management experiences have not been assessed following this change. We invited a random sample of Veterans with chronic conditions (e.g., diabetes, hypertension) who utilized VA services to complete a mailed survey about VA and non-VA pharmacy use and medication management experiences following this restructuring. There were 2,884 respondents (29% response rate). Veterans with the lowest proportion of medications from Tier 1 after the restructuring had the highest predicted probability of non-VA pharmacy use from regression analyses. Among respondents subject to VA copayments, 27% reported being better able to afford medications after the restructuring. However, 29% reported worrying about paying for medications, and 18% reported making tradeoffs (e.g., spending less on utilities, food) to pay for prescriptions.