Spending on mental health care has grown over the years, but also shifted from inpatient care to a greater reliance and use on prescription medications.

According to the study published in the August issue of Psychiatric Services, mental health treatment expenditures grew from $33 billion in 1986 to $100 billion in 2003. In real 2003 dollars, spending per capita on mental health treatment rose from $205 to $345. The average annual nominal total mental health growth rate was 6.7%, compared to 8.0% for general healthcare expenditures.

Prescription drugs accounted for about one-third of the increase in mental health expenditures. From 1996 to 2000, pharmaceutical expenditures rose 20% each year; they have leveled off to 10% from 2001 to 2003.

Medicaid has become the fastest-growing and is now the largest payer of mental health services, increasing at an annual rate of approximately 9.9%.

Source: Mental Health Treatment Expenditure Trends, 1986 2003

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

Like this author?
Catch up on other posts by John M. Grohol, PsyD (or subscribe to their feed).

Comments

This post currently has one comment. You can read the comments or leave your own thoughts on our new comments page.

Trackbacks

No trackbacks yet to this post.

    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 15 Aug 2007
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.