Millions of Medicaid beneficiaries have limited access to Type 2 diabetes medications that reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, according to a study published April 22 in Annals of Internal Medicine.
An analysis of 50 state Medicaid plans and 273 nonelderly adult managed care organization plans associated with Medicaid examined the availability of sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists. Both drug classes include medicines approved for both diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
In comparison to dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors, which are approved for diabetes, researchers found that 2.72 million beneficiaries have restricted availability of GLP-1s, 1.7 million of SGLT2is and 1.5 million of DPP4is.
These restrictions were most common among managed care organization plans, according to the study.
