Washington State Reports Most Medicaid Drug Expenditures are for Mental Health Drugs

April 23, 2001 Washington State Reports Most Medicaid Drug Expenditures are for Mental Health Drugs In Washington state, seven of Medicaid's top 10 drug expenditures in 2000 were for three types of mental health drugs: antipsychotics, antidepressants like Prozac and antiseizure medicines often used in conjunction with other psychotropic medications. Those three alone account for more than 25 percent of Medicaid's total prescription costs for elderly and disabled people. According to the Washington Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), the state is also seeing large increases in other drug categories, such as cholesterol-lowering medicines, prescription painkillers . . .