Table 2Percentage of adults age 65 and older with any prescription drug coverage, private drug coverage, public drug coverage, or no prescription drug coverage, by selected characteristics: United States, 2021–2022

Has prescription drug coverage1
CharacteristicAny coverage1Private coverage1Public coverage1No prescription drug coverage
Percent (95% confidence interval)
Total82.7 (81.9–83.4)68.7 (67.8–69.6)14.0 (13.3–14.7)17.3 (16.6–18.1)
Sex
Men284.6 (83.6–85.6)68.4 (67.0–69.7)216.2 (15.2–17.4)215.4 (14.4–16.4)
Women81.1 (80.0–82.0)68.9 (67.8–70.1)12.1 (11.3–13.0)18.9 (18.0–20.0)
Age group (years)
65–74383.1 (82.2–84.0)369.7 (68.5–70.8)413.4 (12.5–14.3)416.9 (16.0–17.8)
75–8482.8 (81.6–84.0)68.5 (67.0–69.9)14.3 (13.2–15.5)17.2 (16.0–18.4)
85 and older79.7 (77.5–81.9)63.6 (60.9–66.1)16.2 (14.2–18.4)20.3 (18.1–22.5)
Race and Hispanic origin5
Asian, non-Hispanic80.4 (76.0–84.3)653.6 (48.6–58.5)6,726.8 (22.4–31.5)19.6 (15.7–24.0)
Black, non-Hispanic81.8 (79.4–84.0)658.5 (55.5–61.4)623.4 (21.0–25.8)18.2 (16.0–20.6)
White, non-Hispanic883.4 (82.6–84.2)7,872.9 (72.0–73.9)7,810.5 (9.9–11.1)816.6 (15.8–17.4)
Other and multiple races, non-Hispanic78.9 (72.1–84.8)59.8 (51.4–67.9)819.1 (14.3–24.7)21.1 (15.2–27.9)
Hispanic79.4 (76.3–82.2)54.0 (50.4–57.6)25.3 (22.2–28.7)20.6 (17.8–23.7)
Family income as a percentage offederal poverty level9
Less than 100%1081.0 (78.3–83.5)1038.4 (35.3–41.6)1042.5 (39.3–45.8)1019.0 (16.5–21.7)
100% to less than 200%78.2 (76.2–80.0)58.7 (56.4–60.9)19.5 (17.8–21.3)21.8 (20.0–23.8)
200% to less than or equal to 400%81.7 (80.3–83.0)70.2 (68.6–71.8)11.5 (10.4–12.6)18.3 (17.0–19.7)
Greater than 400%86.1 (85.1–87.1)78.7 (77.5–80.0)7.4 (6.6–8.2)13.9 (12.9–14.9)
Food insecurity11
Insecure79.8 (75.8–83.4)1248.4 (43.6–53.3)1231.4 (27.1–36.0)20.2 (16.6–24.2)
Secure83.0 (82.2–83.7)69.8 (68.9–70.8)13.1 (12.5–13.9)17.0 (16.3–17.8)
Urbanization level13
Large central metropolitan80.9 (79.4–82.2)1463.1 (61.3–64.8)1417.8 (16.3–19.3)19.1 (17.8–20.6)
Large fringe metropolitan83.5 (82.0–85.0)74.4 (72.6–76.1)9.1 (8.1–10.2)16.5 (15.0–18.0)
Medium and small metropolitan83.4 (82.1–84.6)69.6 (67.9–71.3)13.8 (12.5–15.1)16.6 (15.4–17.9)
Nonmetropolitan83.0 (81.0–84.9)67.5 (65.1–69.8)15.5 (13.9–17.3)17.0 (15.1–19.0)
Education
Less than high school1578.8 (76.4–81.0)1652.1 (49.3–54.9)1726.6 (24.2–29.2)1721.2 (19.0–23.6)
High school graduate82.2 (80.9–83.5)66.7 (65.0–68.3)15.6 (14.3–16.9)17.8 (16.5–19.1)
Some college83.5 (82.1–84.7)70.4 (68.7–72.0)13.1 (12.0–14.2)16.5 (15.3–17.9)
Bachelor's degree or higher84.3 (83.2–85.4)76.7 (75.4–77.9)7.6 (6.9–8.4)15.7 (14.6–16.8)
Marital status
Married18–2084.7 (83.8–85.6)18–2174.0 (72.8–75.1)18–2110.7 (9.9–11.6)18–2015.3 (14.4–16.2)
Widowed80.1 (78.5–81.6)19,2064.3 (62.5–66.2)18–2015.7 (14.3–17.3)19.9 (18.4–21.5)
Divorced or separated80.1 (78.3–81.8)2060.6 (58.5–62.7)2019.5 (17.8–21.3)19.9 (18.2–21.7)
Never married79.4 (76.6–82.1)2155.8 (52.2–59.3)2123.7 (20.6–27.0)20.6 (17.9–23.4)
Cohabiting81.8 (77.1–86.0)64.8 (59.1–70.2)17.0 (12.8–22.0)18.2 (14.0–22.9)
Health insurance coverage22
Private23–2691.9 (91.1–92.6)24–2690.4 (89.5–91.2)23,24,261.5 (1.2–1.9)23–268.1 (7.4–8.9)
Dual-eligible24–26100.0 (99.7–100.0) 24,26100.0 (99.7–100.0)24–260.0 (0.0–0.3)
Medicare Advantage25,2674.9 (73.6–76.3)25,2674.6 (73.3–76.0)260.3 (0.2–0.5)25,2625.1 (23.7–26.4)
Medicare only2659.9 (57.2–62.5)2659.9 (57.2–62.5) 2640.1 (37.5–42.8)
Other coverage97.5 (95.8–98.7)24.8 (22.3–27.4)72.8 (70.0–75.4)2.5 (1.3–4.2)
Health status
Excellent, very good, or good82.6 (81.8–83.4)2771.2 (70.3–72.2)2711.4 (10.7–12.1)17.4 (16.6–18.2)
Fair or poor83.1 (81.5–84.6)60.3 (58.3–62.3)22.8 (21.1–24.5)16.9 (15.4–18.5)
Disability status28
With disabilities2984.2 (82.6–85.7)2961.5 (59.4–63.6)2922.7 (20.9–24.6)2915.8 (14.3–17.4)
Without disabilities82.3 (81.5–83.1)70.3 (69.4–71.3)12.0 (11.3–12.7)17.7 (16.9–18.5)
Number of chronic conditions30
Zero3178.6 (76.6–80.6)3167.7 (65.4–69.9)3111.0 (9.5–12.6)3121.4 (19.4–23.4)
One81.9 (80.5–83.2)71.1 (69.5–72.7)10.7 (9.7–11.9)18.1 (16.8–19.5)
Two or more84.0 (83.1–84.9)67.9 (66.7–69.0)16.1 (15.2–17.1)16.0 (15.1–16.9)

Quantity zero.

1

Prescription drug coverage was determined at the time of interview. Older adults were considered to have private prescription drug coverage if they obtained coverage through either a single service plan, a private health insurance plan, or Medicare Part D. Adults were considered to have public prescription drug coverage if they were covered by Medicaid, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), other public coverage, or military coverage.

2

Statistically different from women (p < 0.05).

3

Significant linear decrease with increasing age (p < 0.05).

4

Signficant linear increase with increasing age (p < 0.05).

5

Adults categorized as Hispanic may be of any race or combination of races. Adults categorized as Asian non-Hispanic, Black non-Hispanic, and White non-Hispanic indicated one race only. Non-Hispanic adults of multiple or other races are combined in the other and multiple races non-Hispanic category.

6

Statistically different from White non-Hispanic older adults (p < 0.05).

7

Statistically different from other and multiple races non-Hispanic older adults (p < 0.05).

8

Statistically different from Hispanic older adults (p < 0.05).

9

Calculated using the U.S. Census Bureau's poverty thresholds for the previous calendar year, which consider family size and age.

10

Significant quadratic trend with family income (p < 0.05).

11

Family food insecurity was determined based on a composite recode of responses to 10 questions developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to measure if adults had problems with eating patterns or access, quality, variety, and quantity of food in the past 30 days. In the National Health Interview Survey, food insecurity was calculated at the family level, and families that reported six or more problems were considered food insecure.

12

Statistically different from food secure older adults (p < 0.05).

13

Measured using metropolitan statistical area (MSA) status. The Office of Management and Budget defines MSAs according to published standards that are applied to U.S. Census Bureau data. Generally, an MSA consists of a county or group of counties containing at least one urbanized area with a population of 50,000 or more (see reference 42 in this report). See Technical Notes in this report for more detail. Large central MSAs have a population of 1 million or more (similar to inner cities). Large fringe MSAs have a population of 1 million or more (similar to suburbs). Medium and small MSAs have a population of less than 1 million.

14

Significant quadratic trend by urbanization level (p < 0.05).

15

Significant linear increase with increasing education (p < 0.05).

16

Signficant quadratic trend by education (p < 0.05).

17

Significant linear decrease with increasing education (p < 0.05).

18

Significantly different from widowed older adults (p <0.05).

19

Significantly different from divorced older adults (p < 0.05).

20

Significantly different from never married older adults (p < 0.05).

21

Significantly different from cohabiting older adults (p < 0.05).

22

A health insurance hierarchy of six mutually exclusive categories was developed. This hierarchy eliminates duplicate responses for both private health insurance and Medicare Advantage, giving preference to those with Medicare Advantage. Older adults with more than one type of health insurance were assigned the first appropriate category in the following hierarchy: private, dual-eligible (Medicare and Medicaid), Medicare Advantage, Medicare only, and other coverage. Uninsured older adults are shown in the total, but are not shown separately due to small numbers of older adults who are uninsured.

23

Statistically different from older adults who are dual-eligible (p < 0.05).

24

Statistically different from older adults with Medicare Advantage (p < 0.05).

25

Statistically different from older adults with Medicare only (p < 0.05).

26

Statistically different from older adults with other coverage (p < 0.05).

27

Statistically different from older adults in fair and poor health (p < 0.05).

28

Defined by the reported level of difficulty (no difficulty, some difficulty, or a lot of difficulty) in six functioning domains: seeing (even wearing glasses), hearing (even wearing hearing aids), mobility (walking or climbing stairs), communication (understanding or being understood by others), cognition (remembering or concentrating), and self-care (such as washing all over or dressing). Sample adults who responded "a lot of difficulty" or "cannot do at all" to at least one question were considered to have disabilities.

29

Statistically different from older adults without disability (p < 0.05).

30

Chronic conditions include hypertension, coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, arthritis; currently had asthma; or had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (that is, ever had emphysema, ever had COPD, or had chronic bronchitis in the past 12 months).

31

Significant quadratic trend with increasing number of chronic conditions (p < 0.05).

NOTES: Estimates may not add up to 100% because of rounding. Estimates are based on household interviews of a sample of the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population.

SOURCE: National Center for Health Statistics, National Health Interview Survey, 2021–2022.

From: Number 209, Prescription Medication Use, Coverage, and Nonadherence Among Adults Age 65 and Older: United States, 2021–2022

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