Child Medicaid Antipsychotic Prescriptions Lower Among Racial & Ethnic Minorities

Medicaid data from 2005 through 2009 indicates that minority child beneficiaries in eight states were less likely to receive prescriptions for antipsychotics than White children. Across the data set, only 2.4% of child beneficiaries between age two and 20 received an antipsychotic prescription. Compared to the probability of an antipsychotic prescription fill for White children, the probability of an antipsychotic fill was 1.8 percentage points lower for African-Americans, 2.0 percentage points lower for Asians, and 1.8 percentage points lower for Hispanics. Children from these minority groups were also less likely to receive psychiatric services.

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