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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – In 2012, Medicare’s massive prescription drug program, Part D, didn’t spend a penny on popular tranquilizers such as Valium and Xanax. The following year, it doled out more than $377 million for the drugs, according to a ProPublica analysis of newly released federal data.
The spike reflects a failed policy initiative by Congress to discourage the use of anti-anxiety medications. Some of these drugs, known as benzodiazepines, have been linked to abuse and an increased risk of falls and fractures among the elderly, who make up most of the Medicare population, Charles Ornstein writes. <script type=”text/javascript” src=”http://pixel.propublica.org/pixel.js” async=”true”></script>
Highlights from his report:
- When lawmakers first created Medicare’s drug program, they decided not to pay for anti-anxiety medications. But by 2013, Congress had reversed this policy — paying for nearly 40 million prescriptions. Now, the medications are among the most prescribed in all of Part D.
- Data suggests that while the Medicare ban was in effect, patients simply paid for benzodiazepines out of pocket or through state Medicaid programs. Others turned to more powerful psychotic drugs — highlighting how the policy failed to change the behavior of both providers and patients.
- A worrisome aspect is that some doctors appear to be prescribing benzodiazepines and narcotic painkillers to the same patients, increasing the risk of misuse and overdose. This pattern was most common in southeastern states, particularly Florida, Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee.
More in the full story here: http://www.propublica.org/
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