Medicare Part D Won’t Cover Many Common Anxiety Drugs

June 27, 2005

When the federal government’s new prescription drug benefit kicks in next year, it will not cover a category of drugs commonly used to treat anxiety, insomnia and seizures.That means those disabled and elderly people on Medicare who take Xanax, Valium, Atvian and other types of the drug benzodiazepine will have to look elsewhere for coverage or switch to a different, less addictive medication.Finding other alternatives may not be easy for the 1.7 million low-income, elderly people who take the drug and will be automatically enrolled in the new prescription drug plan. They will depend on the states to continue paying for their benzodiazepines – “benzos” for short – on Jan. 1, but with no guarantee.