The effect of Medicare Part D on the quality of pharmacotherapy for bipolar 1 disorder among dually enrolled beneficiaries

In this article, Dr. Marguerite Burns et al. sought to determine whether the shift in 2006 from Medicaid coverage for medications to Medicare Part D for dually enrolled beneficiares affected psychiatric medication management. They examined Medicaid and Medicare administrative data and the effect of the coverage transition on receipt of guideline-concordant antimanic medication, antidepressant monotheray, and emergency department visits, and found that 16 months after the transition to Part D, the proportion of the population with any recommended use of antimanic drugs was 3.1% higher than expected, and the proportion of beneficiaries with antidepressant monotherapy was 2.1% lower than expected. The number of ED visits temporarily increased by 19% immediately post-transition.