Posting date: March 29, 2005

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Health Affairs, 10.1377/hlthaff.w5.133
Copyright © 2005 by Project HOPE

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U.S. Spending For Mental Health And Substance Abuse Treatment, 1991-2001

¹ Tami Mark is associate director, outcomes research and econometrics, at Medstat in Washington, D.C.
² Rosanna Coffey is a Medstat vice president.
³ Rita Vandivort-Warren is a senior policy analyst at the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), in Rockville, Maryland.
⁴ Hendrick Harwood is a vice president of the Lewin Group in Falls Church, Virginia.
⁵ Edward King is a research analyst at the Actuarial Research Corporation in Columbia, Maryland.
⁶ Members of the MHSA Spending Estimates Team are acknowledged at the end of the paper.

^*Corresponding author.

Abstract

Spending for mental health and substance abuse (MHSA) treatment in the United States totaled $104 billion in 2001, representing 7.6 percent of all health care spending. The nominal MHSA annual spending growth rate from 1991 to 2001 was 5.6 percent, almost one percentage point below the growth rate for all health care (6.5 percent). During this period, Medicaid has increased to be the largest payer of mental health care, with prescription drugs the fastest-growing spending component. Private insurance payment for substance abuse actually dropped in real dollars, increasing the public share of substance abuse spending.

Key Words: Access To Care, Business Of Health, Chronic Care, Consumer Issues, Insurance Coverage, Managed Care - Mental Health, Mental Health/Substance Abuse, Health Spending

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