Table 1 Characteristics of the study population and unadjusted outcomes stratified by type of medicare part D coverage (n = 344,817)

Age, years (SD)

78.8 (7.2)^a,b

78.6 (7.0)^a

77.7 (6.7)

Gender (% female)

73.9^a,b

60.8^a

59.6

  Hypertension (%)

77.0^a,b

73.0^a

74.1

  Hyperlipidemia (%)

52.4^a

52.4^a

58.3

  Osteoarthritis (%)

33.1^a

32.4^a

31.5

  Diabetes (%)

31.6^a,b

23.8^a

24.5

  Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (%)

27.9^a,b

20.1^a

23.2

  Coronary Artery Disease (%)

26.9^a,b

23.3^a

25.0

  Atrial fibrillation (%)

25.8^a

25.2^a

24.7

  Non-skin cancer (%)

23.6^a,b

33.9^a

31.3

  Stroke (%)

20.7^a,b

17.5^a

17.0

  Mental health (%)

18.0^a,b

15.9^a

13.8

  Congestive Heart Failure (%)

17.8^a,b

14.0^a

12.5

  Peripheral Vascular Disease (%)

15.3^a,b

11.2^a

12.8

  Dementia (%)

12.0^a,b

7.4^a

6.8

  End-stage renal disease (%)

5.9^a,b

4.6^a

4.9

  Rheumatoid arthritis (%)

3.5^a,b

2.4^a

2.8

  Total costs (SD)

$2,085 (2,411)^a,b

$1,290 (1,495)

$1,275 (1,439)

  Total out-of-pocket costs (SD)

$159 (224)^a,b

$511 (608)^a

$544 (662)

  Plan costs (SD)^c

$1,926 (2,316)^a,b

778 (1,028)^a

$731 (951)

  Total cost of brand name drugs (SD)

$1,359 (2,105)^a,b

$729 (1,263)^a

$766 (524)

  Out-of-pocket cost of brand name drugs (SD)

$93 (178)^a,b

$301 (533)^a

$318 (524)

  Plan cost of brand name drugs (SD)^c

$1,266 (2,034)^a,b

$428 (868)^a

$448 (857)

Total number of prescriptions (SD)

42 (33)^a,b

25 (21)^a

26 (22)

Total number of BM (SD)

12 (14)^a,b

6 (8)^a

7 (9)

  Diabetes medications, PDC (%)

76.8

77.3^a

76.1

  Diabetes medications, % adherence

59.4^a

58.9

57.7

  Hypertension medications, PDC (%)

79.3^a,b

80.1^a

78.6

  Hypertension medications, % adherence

63.7^a,b

65.7^a

62.5

  Lipid-lowering medications, PDC (%)

73.2^a,b

75.8^a

73.0

  Lipid-lowering medications, % adherence

56.9^a,b

59.8^a

55.6