Abstract
This study examines 1999 data from Medstat's MarketScan® database of privately insured employees of US firms and their dependents. Of enrolled children and adolescents ages 2–18, 6.6% had claims for mental health services. Average outpatient expenditures per user were $651. Of children/adolescents with claims for mental health services (MH claimants), 3.4% had inpatient MH services, with an average length of stay of 8.9 days and average MH-related inpatient expenditure per user of $7,048. One half of MH claimants who had pharmacy benefit data had claims for psychotropic medications, with average expenditures per user of $328. Whereas children/adolescent mental health users comprised 8.3% of all service users, expenditures for their care were 20.5% of all service expenditures for children/adolescents in private health plans. Results also highlight the importance of including data on psychotropic medication in analysis of children's MH services utilization, as well as the need to consider the use of psychotropic medications among children/adolescents who do not utilize other MH services.
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Notes
POS plans include HMO products where the beneficiary can choose medical services within the plan's network or seek care outside the network for additional out-of-pocket expenses.
Of 34,500 children/adolescents with MH service use, 17,298 also received a psychotropic medication.
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Kay Miller, BA, Medstat, Santa Barbara, CA 93111-2348, USA.
Kathleen J. Fleming, MEd, CAGS, New England Research Institutes, Watertown, MA 02472, USA.
Judith L. Teich, MSW, Center for Mental Health Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Rockville, MD 20857, USA.
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Larson, M.J., Miller, K., Fleming, K.J. et al. Mental Health Services for Children in Large, Employer-Based Health Plans, 1999. J Behav Health Serv Res 34, 56–72 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-006-9028-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11414-006-9028-0