USC Study Finds Certain Medicaid Drug Policies Linked to Higher Rates of Incarceration Among Mentally Ill
A study by researchers at the University of Southern California's Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics finds that states where Medicaid policies require prior authorization for certain treatments, such as the prescribing of certain antipsychotic drugs, have higher rates of inmates with psychotic symptoms. Such policies often are adopted in order to reduce costs related to some medications, such as those used to treat schizophrenia.- "Are California Medicaid Policies Sentencing People With Mental Illnesses to Prison?" (Thevarajah, Imperial Valley News, 7/27).