New survey data shows that 11.4 percent of U.S. adults did not take their medication as prescribed in an effort to reduce costs.
The survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that those adults, aged 18 to 64, either skipped doses, took less medicine than prescribed or delayed filling a prescription because of the cost of the drugs in the past 12 months.
{mosads}In addition, the data, from 2017, show that 19.5 percent of adults asked their doctor for a lower-cost medication than the one initially prescribed.
The data comes as attention is intensifying on high drug prices and members of both parties call for action.
The AARP highlighted the data on Tuesday. “This is unacceptable. No one should have to ration their treatment or skip medication,” the group wrote on Twitter.
The situation is worse for people who are uninsured. Among the uninsured, 33.6 percent did not take their medication as prescribed in an effort to lower costs.
The percentage of adults not taking their medication as prescribed remained steady from 2015 to 2017, the survey found, after dropping somewhat from 2013 to 2015.