While Michigan's commercial health plans generally improved patient access to
prescription drugs over the past year, Medicaid plans on average reduced access to medications for the state's poorest citizens, a new report shows.

Patients with commercial insurance saw their access to prescription drugs increase an average 8.8 percentage points, according to the biannual report by the Grand Rapids African American Health Institute (GRAAHI), an independent, nonprofit group working to end health disparities in Michigan. Most notably, according to the GRAAHI report, access for Medicaid patients with Lansing-based PHP of Mid-Michigan increased by more than 42 percentage points over the past year.

Meanwhile, across the state's Medicaid plans examined by the report, Medicaid patients saw their access decrease by an average 2 percentage points. To read more, click here.