Medicaid prescription limits: policy trends and comparative impact on utilization

We examined the recent use of prescription caps by Medicaid programs and the impact of policy implementation on prescription utilization.
Methods:
We identified Medicaid cap policies from 2001–2010. We classified caps as applying to all prescriptions (overall caps) or only branded prescriptions (brand caps). Using state-level, aggregate prescription data, we developed interrupted time-series analyses to evaluate the impact of implementing overall caps and brand caps in a subset of states with data available before and after cap initiation. For overall caps, we examined the use of essential medications, which were classified as preventive or as providing symptomatic benefit. For brand caps, we examined the use of all branded drugs as well as branded and generic medications among classes with available generic replacements.
Results:
The number of states with caps increased from 12 in 2001 to 20 in 2010. Overall cap implementation (n = 3) led to a 0.52 % (p 

Source: Epidemiologic Perspectives and Innovations - January 15, 2016 Category: Epidemiology Authors: Daniel LiebermanJennifer PolinskiNiteesh ChoudhryJerry AvornMichael Fischer Source Type: research