The Malaysian Insider :: Features
The Malaysian Insider :: Features |
| Younger Americans have more credit-card debt problems Posted: 15 Jan 2013 07:29 AM PST  A study finds that younger Americans have more credit-card debt problems compared to their parents. — AFP pic Researchers that people born between 1980 and 1984 have on average US$5,689 (RM17,129) more debt than their parents had at the same stage of their lives, and US$8,156 more than their grandparents. "If what we found continues to hold true, we may have more elderly people with substantial financial problems in the future," said Lucia Dunn, a co-author of the study and a professor of economics at Ohio State University. "Our projections are that the typical credit card holder among younger Americans who keep a balance will die still owning money on their cards," she added in a statement. Dunn, and Sarah Jiany, of Capital One Financial in McLean, Virginia and a co-author of the study, analyzed two large monthly surveys which included data on borrowing and repayment, enabling them to estimate when Americans will be able to repay their credit cards. The findings were published in the journal Economic Inquiry. "We have data on how they pay off credit cards as well, which gives us a more complete picture of their debt situation," Dunn said. "This allows us to estimate more precisely when Americans will be able to pay off their credit card debts." Working with data from 1997 to 2009, the researchers studied how 32,542 people aged 18 to 85 accumulated and repaid their credit card bills. They compared 15 five-year-period birth groups, such as people born from 1915 to 1919, the oldest group. People born between 1985 to 1989 were the youngest studied. The researchers also compared people in different age groups but with similar educations, incomes and marital status, and estimated that the payoff rate of younger credit card holders was 24 per centage points lower than their parents, and 77 points lower than their grandparents' rates. "Credit is more readily available now, and there have been changes in interest rates and less stigma attached to having credit card debt, which may all make younger people today more willing to go into debt," Dunn explained. The study also showed that credit card holders react to higher minimum payments by paying more than they have to. But Dunn said the results were a cautionary tale. "If our findings persist, we may be faced with a financial crisis among elderly people who can't pay off their credit cards." — Reuters |
| Generic HIV drugs would cut costs, but may raise risks Posted: 15 Jan 2013 07:20 AM PST  The first generic versions of some key HIV drugs may be less effective than more expensive brand-name options, say a study. — AFP pic The report, published in the latest edition of the Annals of Internal Medicine, found that in 2011, US spending on antiretroviral drugs totalled around US$9 billion, mostly paid for by government sources. "The programs that pay for these drugs are looking to save costs," said Bruce Schackman, chief of the division of health policy at Weill Cornell Medical College and an author of the study. A currently recommended treatment for newly diagnosed HIV patients is Atripla, a single daily pill sold by Gilead Inc that combines three brand-name antiretrovirals: Viread, known generically as tenofovir; Emtriva, or emtricitabine; and Sustiva, or efavirenz. A generic version of lamivudine, which has a similar mechanism of action to emtricitabine, became available this month, while a generic version of efavirenz is expected in the relatively near future. Gilead, which recently started selling a four-drug HIV pill, has dominated the market with its combination pills, which make it easier for patients to adhere to treatment regimens. "For some patients, switching from taking one pill once a day to two or three pills once a day won't make a difference. For others it will be the straw that breaks the camel's back," Schackman said. The paper also noted that laboratory studies have found that lamivudine may be slightly less effective and more vulnerable to the development of drug-resistant viral strains than emtricitabine. The study showed that switching all HIV-infected patients in the United States to the three-drug generic strategy would produce lifetime savings of US$42,500 per patient. In the first year alone, the nationwide savings would reach nearly US$1 billion. However, the quality-adjusted loss of life expectancy could be as much as 4.5 months. "The switch from branded to generic antiretroviral would place us in the uncomfortable position of trading some losses of both quality and quantity of life for a large potential dollar savings," said Dr. Rochelle Walensky of Massachusetts General Hospital medical practice evaluation centre, the study's lead author. She suggested that clinicians and patients might be more amenable to generic drug regimens if they were assured that the savings would be redirected back to AIDS programs, reduced co-payment fees or coverage of treatment for other viral diseases such as hepatitis C infection. — Reuters |
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