Thursday, September 18, 2003

Enrolling Eligible Persons in Pharmacy Assistance Programs: How States Do It
A report (in Adobe Acrobat format) called to our attention in the Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report by the Commonwealth Fund: "Stephen Crystal, Thomas Trail and colleagues from Rutgers University's Center for State Health Policy examine 15 prescription drug assistance programs operating in states in 2000. According to the report, programs with the simplest application procedures and fewest restrictions on enrollment had the highest participation rates." Other recent resources from the Commonwealth Fund (also in Acrobat format) may be of interest to readers as well - JAMA Study finds children enrolled in Medicaid managed care plans do not receive same quality of care as children in commercial plans (see also the related with a summary and JAMA abstract); and the press release Comparing the Presidential Candidates' Health Care Proposals, as well as both the related summary and full report. [Editor's note - From time to time, readers will find links here to news stories and articles on proposals and positions put forth by various political candidates. The inclusion of such material is not intended to advocate for or against any particular candidates or views, and should not be understood as such, but rather as part of an effort to distribute information of interest to readers and to help contribute to the overall quality of discourse on issues related to mental health. - BD]