A journal article's findings confirm that patients in Kentucky with private health insurance have better clinical outcomes than patients with other types of insurance.
Physicians can help reduce the large number of patients who do not take their prescription drugs due to the high cost by proactively discussing the topic of drug costs during the clinical encounter and developing a plan for assistance.
Researchers propose a 10-component voucher plan for universal health coverage that aims to preserve patient choice and competition in the health care marketplace.
The high price of cancer drugs in the US relative to European countries with universal health care raises ethical issues of access, financial burden on patients, and unsustainability of the health care system.
AMA J Ethics. 2015;17(8):750-753. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2015.17.8.nlit1-1508.
Readers are referred to an article by B. Pécoul et al in a 1999 issue of JAMA to discuss what ethical duties developed countries have to ensure that essential drugs are accessible to patients in poor countries.