Medicaid cost control measures aimed at second-generation antipsychotics led to less use of all antipsychotics.

ABSTRACT: "Atypical" or second-generation antipsychotics are a class of drug introduced in the 1990 s for the treatment of schizophrenia. Given their growing use and rising cost, these and other psychotherapeutic drugs are increasingly subject to prior authorization and other restrictions in state Medicaid programs. To evaluate the effects of these policies, we collected drug-level information on their use and on utilization management strategies--for example, requirements for prior authorization, quantity limits, and so-called step therapy--in thirty state Medicaid programs between 1999 and 2008. In the eleven states that instituted prior authorization during that period, use of atypicals per enrollee rose by 14 percent, versus 19 percent in the other nineteen states. Prior authorization also had s

SUBMITTER: Vogt WB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3883626 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature