Impact of changing reimbursement criteria on statin treatment patterns among patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease or cardiovascular risk factors.

The new reimbursement criteria started on 1 August 2013 seemed to lower the barriers of access to the first statin prescription among patients with CHD, cerebrovascular disease (CBVD) and DM. Nevertheless, the proportion of patients who initiated statin use was suboptimal, and the proportion of patients who discontinued statins was very high in the postregulation period.