Published in 2002, this report presents a set of 1995 Medicaid prescription psychoactive drug statistical tables for the non-elderly population, based on Medicaid data that States submit to the CMS. These statistics are presented in a uniform set of tables for each of 10 selected States, plus a set of tables that aggregates data across all 10 States. The tables provide a range of information on users, drug claims, and expenditures for each State. The fundamental purpose is to provide policy makers, interest groups, and others with basic information on prescription psychoactive drug use in Medicaid, and associated trends.

From the report:

Prescription drugs are an important modality of treatment for MH/SA disorders. Nevertheless, neither these studies nor others have provided much detail about the characteristics of such treatment. To provide information on drug use, a set of Medicaid prescription psychoactive drug statistical tables was developed for the non-elderly population, based on Medicaid data that States submit to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS, formerly the Health Care Financing Administration). These statistics are presented in a uniform set of tables for each of 10 selected States, plus a set of tables that aggregates data across all 10 States. The tables provide a range of information on users, drug claims, and expenditures for each State. The fundamental purpose is to provide policy makers, interest groups, and others with basic information on prescription psychoactive drug use in Medicaid, and associated trends.

States were selected for analysis based on geographic diversity, completeness and quality of data, and limited penetration of Medicaid managed care. This latter criterion was included because Medicaid managed care data generally reflect only capitation payments for managed care enrollees, and do not allow classification of services or expenditures by diagnosis. Within each State's files, certain individuals were excluded from analysis. These exclusions were most commonly due to the lack of information that would allow a complete picture of service utilization and expenditures. Individuals falling into the following categories were excluded:

• Dually eligible for Medicaid and Medicare (mostly elderly);
• Aged 65 and over;
• Enrolled in capitated (managed care) plans; or
• Missing sex or date of birth.

Full report: http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/publications/allpubs/SMA02-3712/default.asp

U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). (2002). Use of prescription psychoactive drugs in Medicaid, 1995. Buck, J.A., Miller, K.