Older Missourians are less lonely, but given too many antipsychotic drugs

The Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that studies healthcare policy, recently released its state-by-state Medicare scorecards , and Missouri ranks below most states in how well Medicare is serving beneficiaries in the state.

In the new report, Missouri ranks 34th. The scorecard considers multiple measures, which include access to care, quality of care, costs and affordability and population health.

Missouri was among the worst states in the country in regard to long-term nursing home residents on antipsychotic medications.

Kristen Kolb, a Research Associate with the Commonwealth Fund, said this measure is tracked to ensure the proper usage of the medication.

“Like any other medication, we need to make sure things are being tailored to the patient and not being used as substitu