Florida Lawmakers’ Decision to Drop Measure Restricting ‘Newer, More Effective’ Mental Illness Drugs Leads Health Policy Report Drug Round Up
Florida lawmakers have dropped a proposal to reduce Medicaid spending by barring the use of "newer, more effective drugs" for mental illness, the Orlando Business Journal reports. With the state's Medicaid program facing a $1 billion shortfall, lawmakers estimated that eliminating the newer drugs for serious mental illness would "save millions of dollars." Under the policy, Medicaid beneficiaries would have been required to use "older, cheaper" antipsychotic drugs such as chlorpromazine, haloperidol, fluphenazine and molindone, that have "devastating" side effects including "protruding tongue, drooling and jerky body movements." Dr. Herndon Harding, medical director at Florida Hospital's Center for Behavioral Health, said that requiring use of the older drugs would be "counterproductive" because patients would not take them, subsequently increasing costs for the state as untreated patients would likely end up in a psychiatric hospital or jail. While the newer drugs cost about $3,000 a year, holding someone in jail costs about $30,000 annually, and institutionalization costs about $50,000 a year. Michele Saunders, spokesperson for Lakeside Alternatives Inc., a not-for-profit mental health center, said, "To many patients, the side effects are so horrendous that the older drugs aren't worth taking. The newer drugs are costly -- but they help keep mentally ill people out of jail, so really they save money in the long run" (Lundine, Orlando Business Journal, 5/7).
Utah Officials Examine Senior Drug Programs
Although it "doesn't appear likely" that Utah seniors who do not qualify for Medicaid will receive a prescription drug benefit "anytime soon," state officials are "beginning to examine the issue as the population grows older," the Salt Lake Tribune reports. The state Department of Human Services is surveying randomly selected senior citizens to see whether "their needs are being met," with topics including prescription drug issues. In addition, the Utah Center for Poverty Research and Action is working on a prescription drug assistance initiative, according to health policy analyst Judi Hilman. One possible effort is a drug purchasing pool that would allow the state to cover senior citizens, low-income families, the uninsured and Medicaid beneficiaries (Estes, Salt Lake Tribune, 5/7).
