Most patients with IBD ‘still experience significant challenges’ accessing, affording care
Key takeaways:
- Insurance-related challenges for filling prescriptions included approval delays (39.1%) and lack of coverage (29.8%).
- More than 30% of patients took less medication or skipped doses to save money.
SAN FRANCISCO — Despite advances in treatment for inflammatory bowel disease, more than 55% of patients report medication delays, mostly due to insurance challenges, and many make financial trade-offs to afford care, survey results showed.
“In 2017, the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation sent a similar health care access survey of IBD patients and found that many patients struggled with financial barriers related to care due to insurance limitations and utilized emergency services frequently due to lack of timely access to care,” Ariel A. Jordan, MD, a first-year gastroenterology fellow at Michigan Medicine, told Healio.
“Given this survey was more than 5 years ago and there have been advances in the approach to IBD management, increased medication options and policy changes which affect IBD patient care, the foundation felt it was important to reassess IBD patients’ barriers in accessing medications and care,” she added.
Jordan and colleagues created a 52-item online survey for patients with IBD and caregivers in the U.S., with responses collected over a 5-month period in 2023. Of 2,281 respondents, 86.1% were patients and 13.9% were caregivers; additional patient demographics showed 60.2% were aged 26 to 64 years, 68.4% were women, 66.1% had Crohn’s disease and 98% were insured.
According to results presented at Crohn’s & Colitis Congress, 56% of patients reported delays in medication access, with notable barriers to IBD care, and measures patients take to overcome them, including:
- Insurance challenges: 39.1% of patients reported waiting more than 2 days to fill prescriptions because of prior authorization issues.
- Lack of medication coverage: 29.8% of patients experienced coverage issues due to off-label dosing (26.1%) or step-therapy restrictions (24.8%).
- Time spent on calls: 28.1% of patients spent more than 2 hours on the phone with insurance providers.
- Cost-saving measures: 15.6% of patients reported taking less medication than prescribed, and 15.2% reported skipping doses in order to save money.
“Despite advancements in IBD care, patients still experience significant challenges accessing care,” Jordan said.
Of those who reported medication delays, 69.4% experienced adverse health outcomes and 48.7% experienced negative health effects on daily life.
The survey also identified reasons patients delayed or did not receive care, which included that appointments were not available when needed (39%) and that patients had to wait for insurance approval (26%).
To accommodate costs associated with IBD care, respondents reported giving up vacations or major household purchases (30.1%), increasing their credit card debt (21.6%) and scaling back on purchasing essential items (21.4%).
“These findings highlight the need for health care system and policy reform to ensure affordable care and accessible treatment for patients with IBD,” Jordan told Healio. “They also provide important statistics to share with state and federal legislators when advocating for vital policy reform, such as the Safe Step Act, which remains a priority to see passed in all states as well as federally to help ensure accessibility of medications for IBD patients.”
Reference:
Collapse
Jordan AA, et al. Barriers to timely health care access for IBD patients in the U.S.: Additional findings from a recent survey by the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation. Presented at: Crohn’s & Colitis Congress; Feb. 6-8, 2025; San Francisco.
Read more about