Potential mail delays could affect the more than 25% of U.S. older adults who rely on mail delivery of medications, which many times is mandated by insurance, according to new research.
The National Poll on Health Aging used data from a poll of older adults aged 50 to 80. Almost one in four of all those surveyed said they receive at least one medication by mail, with the percentage increasing to 29% when the poll results were limited to people who take at least one prescription medication.
Thirty-five percent of poll participants said their insurance requires them to use the mail for delivery. Almost 17% of respondents said they receive all their medications via mail.
Although deliveries of all kinds have been delayed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Postal Service delays have been in the headlines lately, and congressional hearings are now underway.
Of those who receive their prescriptions via mail, 53% said the delivery option saved them money, and 42% cited convenience as the reason they used the option. Nearly 30% said they chose mail delivery for medication they take on a long-term basis, and almost 29% said their physician’s office automatically sends their prescriptions to a company that mails them.
Previously unpublished data about the use of mail delivery for medications comes from a 2017 poll that was part of the ongoing National Poll on Health Aging conducted by the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation. The poll did not differentiate between mail delivery by the U.S. Postal Service or private delivery services.
As part of a 2017 poll on drug interactions, the IHPI team asked a national sample of 2,131 older adults about their medication uses and sources and focused on the 76% who said they took at least one prescription medication. In that poll, most adults (63%) reported taking two or more prescription drugs, with 16% taking six or more. That poll focused on beliefs about retail versus mail-order pharmacies and respondents’ understanding of drug interactions.
The National Poll on Healthy Aging team recently published its first report on data taken from a June 2020 poll on how older adults were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The poll focused on telehealth use among older adults, finding a substantial increase in the use of telehealth; 14% of older adults reported using telehealth visits in May 2019, compared with 62% in June 2020.
