This staff presentation provides an overview of an analysis of 2011 Medicaid Statistical Information System (MSIS) eligibility and outpatient pharmacy data, finding that enrollees who qualify for Medicaid on the basis of a disability account for over half of psychotropic prescriptions and 60 percent of Medicaid fee-for-service spending. The analysis also finds that spending per user for foster children and beneficiaries with disabilities was about $2,000 per user, two to four times that of other groups.
In addition to segmenting findings by therapeutic class of medication, and beneficiaries with psychotropic prescriptions by Medicaid eligibility group and number of prescriptions, the presentation also discusses risks associated with psychotropic drugs and state and federal activities to improve the use of these medications.