Thursday, July 27, 2023 | The Latest Research, Commentary, And News From Health Affairs
Dear John,
Happy Thursday. Remember to check out our new
open-access journal Health Affairs Scholar.
Antipsychotic Use Decrease 2008-16
In the July issue of Health Affairs, Greta Bushnell and her coauthors offer a status update of antipsychotic prescribing trends among Medicaid-enrolled children, and examine whether efforts to reduce antipsychotic use in US children (due to safety concerns) have changed utilization.
Using Medicaid
administrative claims data from 2008–16, they determined that "annual antipsychotic use among Medicaid-enrolled children was 2.31 percent in 2008 and declined by 43 percent, to 1.32 percent, by 2016."
After analyzing by demographic characteristics, Bushnell and coauthors find that in 2016, antipsychotic use remained "substantially" higher among those Medicaid-enrolled children in foster care. Also, while there was a decline in antipsychotic use among all racial and ethnic groups between 2008–16, White children experienced the largest absolute decline.
Bushnell and coauthors conclude that "the proportion of children who had an antipsychotic prescription with any
diagnosis associated with an FDA-approved pediatric indication increased from 38 percent in 2008 to 45 percent in 2016, potentially indicating prescribing improvements."
On Tuesday, August 1, Health Affairs will host the first-ever virtual live recording of the popular podcast, A Health
Podyssey. The event will be combined with the Health Affairs Policy Spotlight event series. We hope you will join us on that day when our Editor-in-Chief, Alan Weil, welcomes Meena Seshamani, the Director of the Office of Medicare at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). They will discuss several crucial issues that are
coming to the forefront, including:
Implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), with revised negotiation guidance coming summer
Recent significant policy changes related to Medicare Advantage
Health Affairs is the leading peer-reviewedjournalat the intersection of health, health care, and policy. Published monthly by Project HOPE, the journal is available in print and online. Late-breaking
content is also found through healthaffairs.org, Health Affairs Today, and Health Affairs Sunday Update.
Project HOPE is a global health and humanitarian relief organization that places power in the hands of local health care workers to save lives across the globe. Project HOPE has published Health Affairs since 1981.
