I wanted to point our readers to an interesting story that ran in The New York Times over the weekend about how poor children were more likely to be treated with antipsychotic drugs.
Children covered by Medicaid are given such drugs at a rate four times higher than that of children with private insurance. Also, the children on Medicaid were more likely to be given the drugs for less severe conditions than middle class children, the article said.
The disparity in prescribing patterns could be explained in part because Medicaid often pays much less for counseling and therapy than private insurers do, the article said. Also, the story said, families in poverty may have difficulty consistently attending counseling or therapy sessions.
