This article examined medication access among dually eligible Medicaid and Medicare mental health beneficiaries over the first 4 months of the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit.  More than half of those studied experienced some difficulty accessing medication in the first months of 2006.  These and other findings lead the authors to conclude that further refinement of Part D is needed to achieve its goal of increasing access to mental health medication. 

West, J. C., Wilk, J. E., Muszynski, I. L., Rae, D. S., Rubio-Stipec, M., Alter, C.L. et al. (2007). Medication access and continuity: the experiences of dual-eligible psychiatric patients during the first 4 months of the Medicare prescription drug benefit. American Journal of Psychiatry, 164(5): 789-96.  DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.164.5.789.  http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/164/5/789

Authors: Joyce C. West, Joshua E. Wilk, Irvin L. Muszynski, Donald S. Rae, Maritza Rubio-Stipec, Carol L. Alter, William E. Narrow, Darrel A. Regier