Medicare/ Medicaid

Big changes in Rhode Island's Medicaid formulary are raising big concerns among mental health advocates. The General Assembly authorized the state Department of Human Services to create a preferred drug list that would limit the drugs covered by Medicaid and switch patients to generics whenever possible. The DHS sought public feedback in a hearing last week. Advocates for the mentally ill pleaded to exclude mental-illness medications from the new regulations. A preferred drug list could …

The federal government has OK'ed Massachusetts's proposed universal health insurance plan by granting a Medicaid waiver for the program and agreeing to continue providing $385 million per year in Medicaid funding for the next two years. The agreement also includes an additional $225 million to expand Medicaid coverage, says this article in The Boston Globe. The program will offer a combination of subsidized and low-cost insurance plans, expanded Medicaid coverage and incentives …