This issue brief highlights a number of prescription drug issues that remain important for states after the shift of prescription drug coverage for Medicaid-Medicare dual eligibles to Medicare in 2006, including the use of antipsychotic drugs in nursing facilities and other settings. It focuses...

New data, prepared for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, provide detailed state-by-state and national information on prescription drug cost and utilization in 2003 for Medicaid beneficiaries enrolled in both Medicaid and Medicare (“dual eligiblesâ€), whose drug coverage...

Researchers interviewed oncology social workers and nurse practitioners in an effort to understand how the Medicare Part D doughnut hole affects beneficiaries’ financial access to oral anticancer targeted therapies. The findings highlight the financial obstacles associated with the Part D...

To provide better value and improve patient care in the U.S. health care system, comparative effectiveness research (CER) needs to be disseminated, implemented, and interpreted. This brief, the second from Mathematica’s Center on Health Care Effectiveness, examines how to put CER into use...

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 comparative effectiveness research (CER) investments aimed to develop fundamental building blocks to transform health care in the United States by strategically aligning national CER efforts and priorities. The overarching goals of these investments...

Using 2007 pharmacy claims for postmenopausal Medicare beneficiaries with osteoporosis, this study found medication discontinuation and out-of-pocket drug costs were highest for those enrolled in Medicare Part D plans with a coverage gap.

This chartbook, prepared for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, provides a snapshot of Medicaid pharmacy benefit use and reimbursement in 2003 and shows key trends from 1999 to 2003.