AUTHOR=Hermosilla Manuel , Alexander Caleb , Polsky Dan TITLE=COVID-19 unemployment and access to statin medications in the United States JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2023 YEAR=2023 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1124151 DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2023.1124151 ISSN=2296-2565 ABSTRACT=Objective

To quantify the effect of the unemployment created by COVID-19 on access to (sales of) statin drugs in the United States population.

Methods

Approximately half a billion transactions for statin drugs in the United States between January 2018 and September 2020 are analyzed. We studied the potential causal relation between abnormal levels of unemployment during the first wave of COVID-19 in the U.S. and abnormal levels of sales of statin products (both variables defined at the state/week level). Variables are analyzed using the Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS) method, which exploits comparisons of statin sales between states where, given the occupational distribution of their workforce, unemployment was more structurally vulnerable to mobility restrictions derived from COVID-19 against states where it was less structurally vulnerable.

Results

While we do not find unemployment effects on statin sales on most of the population, our estimates link COVID-fueled unemployment with a sharp sales reduction among Medicaid-insured populations, particularly those in working age. For the period between March and August of 2020, these estimates imply a 31% drop of statin sales among this population.

Discussion

COVID-fueled unemployment may have had a negative and significant effect on access to statin populations among Medicaid-insured populations.