Currently, 24 percent of the elderly on Medicare, or 1.7 million people, will lose this coverage completely. The paper reports that negative effects are likely to take place, including withdrawal reactions, seizures, emergency department visits, and hospital admissions because the Medicare patients will not be able to afford these sometimes essential drugs.
Benzodiazepines are widely prescribed and generally safe and inexpensive treatments for anxiety, panic disorder, insomnia, and neurologic and rheumatologic disorders (such as muscle spasms and epileptic seizures).
Psychiatric Services