1.7 million will be anxious when Medicare coverage of anxiety drugs ceases

Jun 28 2005

When the U.S. Government's new prescription drug benefit begins next year a category of drugs commonly used to treat anxiety, insomnia and seizures will not be included.

This will mean that those disabled and elderly people on Medicare who take Xanax, Valium, Atvian and other types of the drug, benzodiazepine, will have to find other means of coverage or switch to a different, less addictive medication.

For the 1.7 million low-income, elderly people who take the drug finding other alternatives may not be that easy.

Although they will be automatically enrolled in the new prescription drug plan, they will be dependant on the states to continue paying for their benzodiazepines but there is no guarantee that will happen.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have recently urged state Medicaid directors to provide coverage of the drugs for the 6.3 million people who are eligible for prescription aid under the Medicaid and Medicare programs, but only if states agree, will they continue to get federal matching funds when they pay for benzodiazepine.