Current and Future Funding Sources for Specialty Mental Health and Substance Abuse Treatment Providers

Abstract

With ACA's full implementation, spending on behavioral health will likely increase under private insurance and Medicaid. Parity in private plans will also push a larger share of payments for office-based professionals from out-of-pocket payments to private insurance. As ACA provides insurance for formerly uninsured individuals, funding by state behavioral health authorities of center-based treatment will likely refocus on recovery and support services. Federal Medicaid rules will increase in importance as more people needing behavioral health treatment become covered.

Growth In Buprenorphine Waivers For Physicians Increased Potential Access To Opioid Agonist Treatment, 2002–11

“…(35) The government is already the largest payer for substance abuse treatment services, (36, 37) and given the increased number of Medicaid enrollees in many states and Medicaid enrollees’ higher rates of opioid use disorders,(38) the potential for increased demand for opioid use disorder treatment is quite high. Parity of behavioral health services under the ACA may also affect the availability of opioid agonist treatment, given that prior Federal parity legislation (39) was associated with an increase in substance abuse treatment facilities use of buprenorphine (40) but not broader substance use disorder treatment expansion.…”

Adherence trajectories of buprenorphine therapy among pregnant women in a large state Medicaid program in the United States

“…Therefore, we aimed to identify distinct longitudinal utilization and adherence trajectories of buprenorphine treatment and associated factors among pregnant women with OUD in Pennsylvania Medicaid program. Given that substantial numbers of pregnant women with OUD are Medicaid eligible and Medicaid is the largest funder of substance use disorder treatment services, our findings may shed light on patterns of buprenorphine therapy among pregnant women with OUD and factors associated with late initiation, nonadherence, or early discontinuation for target interventions (eg, case management).…”

Business Cycles and Admissions to Substance Abuse Treatment

“…While specialty care is clearly not the only treatment modality available to patients (National Institute on Drug Abuse ), it is costly—financially and non‐financially in terms of the patient's time—and effective and optimal for many patients (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration ; Swensen ). Moreover, this modality is heavily financed by public payers (Levit et al ) and reflects the majority of substance abuse care received in the United States (Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality )…”