About Us

Medicare’s new prescription drug benefit, Medicare Part D, began on January 1, 2006. This new benefit has created big changes for many people receiving treatment for mental illness.

That’s why leading organizations in mental health have joined forces to bring you this resource that will provide essential information about Part D and answer your questions.

Key facts about the people who will be eligible for this new Medicare benefit include:

• Over half of all under-65 Medicare recipients with disabilities have problems with mental functioning
• 38% of people with both Medicare and Medicaid (approximately 2.5 million people) have a mental or cognitive impairment
• Almost 20% of people over age 55 experience specific mental disorders that are not part of normal aging.

Medicare prescription drug coverage is especially important for persons with mental illnesses. Many of these individuals are currently without drug coverage or are receiving their prescription drugs through Medicaid. For those without coverage, the new benefit means that they will now be able to participate in a prescription drug program; for those who currently have Medicaid, it will mean they will have to learn how to navigate a whole different system.

It is important that psychiatrists, non-psychiatric physicians, other mental health providers, staff of community mental health and integrated health centers, and consumers and their families understand how the new Medicare prescription drug coverage will affect them, and what they can do to ensure people with Medicare receive the appropriate medications. In all likelihood they will play an integral role in helping individuals obtain access to the drugs they need under Part D.

This website was created by a partnership comprised of the following mental health organizations: the American Association of Community Psychiatrists, the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, the American Psychiatric Association, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors, the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare, the National Mental Health Association, and Treatment Effectiveness Now.

Funding for this site has been provided in the form of unrestricted educational grants by Eli Lilly and Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb, AstraZeneca, and Janssen. Web site content has been determined and developed independently by the Mental Health Part D partners and is subject to their internal review processes.