A recent Health Affairs study, "Decline In New Starts Of Psychotropic Medications
During The COVID-19 Pandemic," shows that new starts of antidepressants
and anti-anxiety drugs among seniors during the five months between March and
August 2020 were well below expected and historical levels.
New starts are lower than
expected:
- Relative to forecasted levels, researchers observed an
18.6% decline in antidepressant new starts for the initial stay-at-home
period of mid-March to mid-May, followed by a 1.4% decline from May 15 to
Aug. 8, and an overall drop of 8.9%. Changes in new starts of anxiolytics
among seniors fell 15.2% below the forecast in the initial period, 1.8% in
the three-month period and 7.7% over the five months. Meanwhile,
antipsychotic prescriptions in the initial period were 4.3% below expected
levels but increased by 3.4% from May 15 to Aug. 8.
Insurers' Experience:
- SCAN Health Plan observed about a 10-fold increase in
mental health-related telehealth visits during the "peak months"
of the pandemic and in the volume of mental health inquiries, according to
Chief Medical Officer Romilla Batra, M.D.
- The insurer shifted to "an all-hands on deck
approach" to ensure members had the appropriate support, such as
establishing a dedicated resources hotline for members calling in with
concerns about mental health and conducting outreach calls to more than
100,000 members to check on their medical and social needs.
- Molina Healthcare, Inc. "really had to [rethink]
the way we provide mental health and substance use disorder [services]
during the pandemic," said Medical Director Mario San Bartolomé,
M.D., during a panel of the AHIP 2021 Institute & Expo Online, held
June 22-24.
- The insurer expanded existing partnerships with virtual
behavioral health providers to increase access to telehealth and
telepsychiatry, made changes to its prior authorization policies to allow
for more direct access to mental health care, and launched a partnership
with PsychHUB.
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