Effective June 1, 2013, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will require all Workers’ Compensation Medicare Set-aside Agreements (WCMSAs) include the cost of a claimant’s benzodiazepine and barbiturate prescription medications. This change is likely to increase the cost of WCMSAs significantly, since there are many drugs falling under the benzodiazepine or barbiturate classes that frequently are prescribed to workers’ compensation patients, including:
•alprazolam (Xanax)
•chlordiazepoxide (Librium)
•clonazepam (Klonopin)
•clorazepate (Tranxene)
•diazepam (Valium)
•estazolam (Prosom)
•flurazepam (Dalmane)
•lorazepam (Ativan)
•Midazolam (Versed)
•oxazepam (Serax)
•temazepam (Restoril)
•triazolam (Halcion)
•quazepam (Doral)