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August 13, 2009
Report indicates US spending on mental healthcare increased by nearly two-thirds
Modern Healthcare (8/6, Zigmond) reports, "The cost to treat Americans under care for depression and other mental illnesses rose by nearly two-thirds to $58 billion from $35 billion in a 10-year period, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality."
For the analysis, "researchers based their estimates on data taken from the full-year data file and medical conditions file known as MEPS-HC, which is a longitudinal survey that collects information on healthcare utilization by the US non-institutionalized population." The report shows that "the number of Americans treated for mental disorders, such as depression and bipolar disease, nearly doubled to 36 million from19 million from 1996 to 2006."
HealthDay (8/5, Mundell) noted that the report shows that "US spending on mental illness is soaring at a faster pace than spending on any other healthcare category." In fact, "spending on mental illness showed a faster rate of growth over the 10-year period analyzed than costs for heart disease, cancer, trauma-linked disorders, and asthma."
Data indicated that "spending on heart disease rose from $72 billion in 1996 to $78 billion in 2006; cancer care rose from $47 billion to $58 billion; asthma costs climbed from $36 billion to $51 billion, and expenditures for trauma-related care rose from $46 billion to $68 billion."
Related Links:
- Free subscription required: "Rising mental-healthcare costs top list: AHRQ," Jessica Zigmund, Modern Healthcare,/i>, August 5. 2009.
- U.S. Spending on Mental Health Care Soaring," E.J. Mundell, HealthDay, August 6, 2009.
Posted by admin at August 13, 2009 05:31 PM