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Mathematica Publications Offer Data-Driven Insights into
Medicaid Behavioral Health Policies and Services
New Journal Articles and Chartbook of Services
Contact: Amy Berridge, (609) 275-2399
PRINCETON, N.J., March 2, 2011—Nearly one in six Americans suffers from a serious mental illness. Medicaid pays for approximately 25 percent of national expenditures and 45 percent of public expenditures for mental health and substance abuse services—and spending is projected to rise in the years ahead. Because Medicaid behavioral health services have become a key cost driver of both federal and state budgets, policymakers need information to make data-driven decisions about behavioral health services and policies.
Mathematica’s cadre of mental health and substance abuse researchers recently published a series of journal articles and produced a seminal chartbook for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) offering insights and information about current trends in Medicaid-funded behavioral health services. The articles, featured in Administration and Policy in Mental Health, Journal of Aging & Social Policy, Journal of Child and Family Studies, and Psychiatric Services, are broad in scope, covering topics relating to nursing home residents, welfare recipients, youth in residential treatment facilities, and prisoners. In addition, the chartbook, Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services in Medicaid, 2003, creatively combines data and program information to place the findings in a broader policy context.
“Mental health policymakers can use these resources to answer questions about delivery, financing, administration, and other issues pertaining to Medicaid behavioral health services,” said Henry Ireys, Mathematica senior fellow and lead author of the chartbook and several journal articles.
He adds, “The articles are of extraordinary breadth and variety and demonstrate Mathematica’s creative use of Medicaid data to address important questions about Medicaid policies affecting behavioral health services for beneficiaries of all ages. The chartbook provides the best and most comprehensive information currently available on Medicaid beneficiaries who use substance abuse and mental health services.”
Chartbook:
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services in Medicaid, 2003
Journal articles:
"Medicaid Beneficiaries Using Mental Health or Substance Abuse Services in Fee-for-Service Plans in 13 States, 2003." Henry T. Ireys, Allison L. Barrett, Jeffrey A. Buck, Thomas W. Croghan, Melanie Au, and Judith L. Teich. Psychiatric Services, September 2010.
"Mental Disorders and Service Use Among Welfare and Disability Program Participants in Fee-for-Service Medicaid." LaDonna Pavetti, Michelle K. Derr, Jacqueline F. Kauff, and Allison Barrett. Psychiatric Services, May 2010.
"How Many Nursing Home Residents Live with a Mental Illness?" Ann D. Bagchi, James M. Verdier, and Samuel E. Simon. Psychiatric Services, July 2009.
"Mental Disorders Among Non-Elderly Nursing Home Residents." Samuel E. Simon, Debra J. Lipson, and Christal M. Stone. Journal of Aging & Social Policy, January 2011.
"Effects of a Discharge Planning Program on Medicaid Coverage of State Prisoners with Serious Mental Illness." Audra T. Wenzlow, Henry T. Ireys, Bob Mann, Carol Irvin, and Judith L. Teich. Psychiatric Services, January 2011.
"Use of Out-of-Home Care Among a Statewide Population of Children and Youth Enrolled in Medicaid." Jonathan D. Brown, Morris Hamilton, Brenda Natzke, Henry T. Ireys, and Mathew Gillingham. Journal of Child and Family Studies, February 2011.
"State Variation in Out-of-Home Medicaid Mental Health Services for Children and Youth: An Examination of Residential Treatment and Inpatient Hospital Services." Jonathan Brown, Brenda Natzke, Henry Ireys, Mathew Gillingham, and Morris Hamilton. Administration and Policy in Mental Health, July 2010.
"Use of Hospital Emergency Services by Youths in Out-of-Home Care." Jonathan D. Brown, Ellen Singer, and Henry T. Ireys. Psychiatric Services, March 2010.
About Mathematica: Mathematica Policy Research, a nonpartisan research firm, provides a full range of research and data collection services, including program evaluation and policy research, survey design and data collection, research assessment and interpretation, and program performance/data management, to improve public well-being. Its clients include federal and state governments, foundations, and private-sector and international organizations. The employee-owned company, with offices in Princeton, N.J., Ann Arbor, Mich., Cambridge, Mass., Chicago, Ill., Oakland, Calif., and Washington, D.C., has conducted some of the most important studies of disability, health care, education, family support, employment, nutrition, and early childhood policies and programs.