How Many Health Plans Have “Fail First” Policies For Mental Health Prescriptions?

Recently we received a question from one of our readers asking – how many health plans require consumers with mental health conditions to “fail first” on a particular list of mental health prescription drugs before they can have access to other medications? To find out we reviewed the District of Columbia and all 50 state Medicaid prescription drug programs.

But first, a little background on mental health drug spending in the U.S. In 2013, the U.S. spent $23.9 billion on mental health drugs (antipsychotics and antidepressants) – making it the third most expensive class of drugs (see United States . . .