Children On Medicaid More Prone To Antipsychotic Medications

By Author: Jaun Paul
Total Articles: 53
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If we go by the findings about the rate that children on Medicaid are prescribed antipsychotic medications, we may favor a medical necessity audit.


According to some findings, children on Medicaid are prescribed antipsychotic medications at a rate of four times more than children whose parents have private insurance.


Some medical professionals worry about higher antipsychotic prescription rates among children who are Medicaid beneficiaries for these reasons:


According to The Times report, there're psychological and physical side effects of antipsychotic medicines in children, like sudden weight gain and metabolic changes leading to lifelong physical problems.

Child Medicaid benes are often getting prescriptions from primary care physicians and not getting psychological or psychiatric treatment that kids from ...
... middle-class families end up getting.

For some medical professionals, drugs are a cheap ‘bandaid' solution when other interventions might be more appropriate for the child.


It's a fact that mental illness among children who are Medicaid benes is two times more than what you find among middle-class children, mostly owing to poverty, troubled family situations, parents who have mental illnesses among other things. The Medicaid benefit may make appropriate meds more financially possible for their families. But critics point out that even if twice number of Medicaid children struggle with mental illness as middle-class children, that still doesn't explain why they are prescribed four times as many antipsychotics.

Provides weekly digest newsware about health care updates, and offers advanced Learning Opportunities about Medicaid and Medicaid beneficiaries for healthcare executives and physician billers according to 2010 Work Plan.