Committee agrees to delay decision on proposed restrictions on anti-psychotic medications

Drug choice could be strictly enforced for people with mental illness on Medicaid. It’s a new proposal put on by the Missouri HealthNet Pharmacy Program.

After hearing from advocates of the current program and people with mental illness, the committee decided to postpone their decision to review the testimonies further.

Alan Stoutz spoke in front of the committee, he has been living with schizophrenia and used drugs and alcohol to cope for years.

He told the committee today that the current Medicaid drug choice options saved his life. He says without the it, his life would be very different.

“I’d either be in the penitentiary, long-term mental health institution, or in some other kind of treatment,” said Stoutz.

Instead, he said he is able to function as a normal citizen. He works at a local grocery store, attends group meetings, and he said he is able to live a full-life, even with his illness.

He said if the Missouri’s HealthNet Pharmacy proposal is passed to create a preferred drug list, he fear a different life for people like him.

Executive Director Gena Terlizzi of a mental illness advocacy group said she understand Missouri’s need to cut costs on healthcare, but this should not be an option.

“This is about real people, real people’s lives who are severely impacted by their mental illness and whose lives can be changed,” said Terlizzi.

She points out that the right medication is crucial, and it should be up to the doctor and the patient to decide, not the state.

The committee tells us they will likely readdress the issue at the next meeting this September.