The Self-Care Economy: OTC Medicines in the U.S. Deliver Value to the Health System

...About 60 million people in the U.S. would not seek treatment from a physician if OTC meds were unavailable in the market. People who self-care save the health system — insurance companies, employers and government payers (read: taxpayers) — billions of dollars.

Who are these people who are saving the U.S. health system stakeholders money? It’s the uninsured, CHPA points out. These individuals self-caring save more for the system than other insurance sub-sets due to a greater dependence on OTCs as their primary treatment option.

For these people, the medical home is the patients’ home. This is rapidly becoming the case for many insured and under-insured U.S. health citizens, as well. Peoples’ access to safe, high quality, accessibly packaged and marketed over-the-counter medicines is a critical underpinning for building a more sustainable U.S. health system where empowered health consumers can participate more in their own care...