Two new resources from the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured explore key aspects of mental health care financing and access. Medicaid plays an important role in financing mental health services in the United States and will play a key role in ensuring access to behavioral health services under the health reform law.
The first, Mental Health Financing in the United States: A Primer, provides an overview of behavioral health care, reviews the sources of financing for such care, assesses the interaction between different payers and highlights recent policy debates in mental health. It also discusses the role of Medicaid, currently the largest source of financing for behavioral health services in the nation, covering a quarter of all expenditures. This comprehensive resource serves as a guide for those who want to understand the complex system of behavioral health financing in the United States.
The second paper, Medicaid Policy Options for Meeting the Needs of Adults with Mental Illness under the Affordable Care Act, examines the salient issues raised in a recent roundtable discussion of national and state experts convened by the Commission, in partnership with the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, to discuss Medicaid policy options available under health reform to help meet the needs of adults with mental illness. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will expand the Medicaid program, offering the opportunity to improve access to care for millions of Americans with mental health disorders. States face several decisions about designing benefits, structuring service delivery and conducting outreach and enrollment for this population, which has unique health and social service needs.
The discussion was the latest in an ongoing series of Health Reform Roundtables that explore key issues related to implementing the expansion of Medicaid under health reform. More information is available here.
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