Healthcare Financial News

Spending on mental health and substance abuse (MHSA) treatment is projected to double between 2003 and 2014, according to new forecasts by the federal government’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, reported in an article published Oct. 7 on the Health Affairs web site. Nevertheless, growth in spending for MHSA treatment during this period is expected to lag behind growth in overall health spending.

Spending on MHSA treatment is expected to increase from $121 billion in 2003 to $239 billion in 2014, essentially duplicating the 6.4 percent growth rate in behavioral health spending that prevailed between 1986 and 2003. From 2003 to 2014, overall health spending is expected to grow 0.8 percentage points faster than the rate of growth in spending for MHSA treatment. As a result, behavioral health spending is predicted to decline as a share of total health spending, from 7.5 percent in 2003 to 6.9 percent in 2014.

The bulk of MSHA spending goes toward the treatment of those with mental illnesses. In 2014, spending on mental health treatment is expected to be $203 billion--85 percent of all behavioral health spending. And Medicaid is expected to remain the single largest payer for mental health treatment, accounting for 27 percent of that spending in 2014. Read the abstract.

Americans continued to be assailed by rising healthcare costs this year, with 55 percent of those with health insurance reporting they experienced higher costs. Some said the U.S. healthcare system is so flawed that it should be completely overhauled (20 percent), and 51 percent believe major changes are needed, according to the 2008 Health Confidence Survey (HCS) by the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), a nonpartisan, not-for-profit research group. The survey report, released Oct. 7, is the 11th annual assessment of the American public regarding the U.S. healthcare system.

Despite concerns about costs, confidence about various aspects of today’s healthcare system has also remained fairly level with findings from the 2007 HCS. One-half (51 percent) report being extremely or very confident that they are able to get the treatments they need, and 42 percent are confident they have enough choice about who provides their medical care. However, 42 percent are not too or not at all confident about the affordability of health care, an increase from 36 percent in 2007. While half of Americans (49 percent) remain extremely or very satisfied with healthcare quality, far fewer are satisfied with the cost of health insurance (17 percent) or with costs not covered by insurance (15 percent).

Virtually all respondents said that extremely or very important goals when reforming the U.S. healthcare system should be to provide high-quality health care (93 percent) and to make health care more affordable (90 percent). Read the executive summary.