Medicaid cost-cutting harmed mentally ill

Cost-control schemes adopted in some US states have led mental health patients to suffer adverse outcomes, according to a study of  prescribing policies and access to medicines for Medicaid  beneficiaries. The research paper, titled, Medicaid Prescription Drug  Policies and Medication Access and Continuity: Findings from 10 States,  appears in the May edition of Psychiatric Services, published by the  American Psychiatric Association.

A list of practices including: compulsory generic switching; dosage  limits; prior authorization; and the use of step-therapy protocols, were  among those flagged up by researchers. Joyce West, of the American  Psychiatric Institute for Research and Education, said: "policies  that are based primarily on cost rather than clinical considerations  may result in significant human, economic and social costs."