Advocates Object To Plan Changing Medicare Coverage Of Mental Health Treatments.

CQ (2/4, Zeller, Subscription Publication) reports on a “tussle” between the Obama Administration and mental health advocates over a CMS proposal to “tak[e] depression and psychotic disorders off a list of conditions for which it will allow seniors to receive almost any approved drug.” According to CMS, Medicare Part D “would save $1.3 billion over the five years 2015 to 2019 if the rule change is implemented.” However, “advocates for people with mental illness object, arguing that not all generics or lower-cost alternatives work as well as brand-name drugs.”