Abstract
The continued growth of public managed behavioral health care has raised concerns about possible effects on services provided.
This study uses a national sample of outpatient substance abuse treatment units surveyed in 2005 to examine associations between
public managed care and service access, measured as both the types of services provided and the amount of treatment received
by clients. The percentage of clients funded through public managed care versus other types of public funding was positively
associated with treatment units’ odds of providing some types of resource-intensive services and with the odds of providing
transportation to clients, but was negatively associated with the average number of individual therapy sessions clients received
over the course of treatment. In general, public managed care does not appear to restrict access to outpatient substance abuse
treatment, although states should monitor these contracts to ensure clients receive adequate courses of individual treatment.
This study uses a national sample of outpatient substance abuse treatment units surveyed in 2005 to examine associations between
public managed care and service access, measured as both the types of services provided and the amount of treatment received
by clients. The percentage of clients funded through public managed care versus other types of public funding was positively
associated with treatment units’ odds of providing some types of resource-intensive services and with the odds of providing
transportation to clients, but was negatively associated with the average number of individual therapy sessions clients received
over the course of treatment. In general, public managed care does not appear to restrict access to outpatient substance abuse
treatment, although states should monitor these contracts to ensure clients receive adequate courses of individual treatment.
- Content Type Journal Article
- DOI 10.1007/s11414-010-9230-y
- Authors
- Emmeline Chuang, Department of Mental Health Law and Policy, Department of Child and Family Studies, College of Behavioral and Community Studies, 13301 Bruce B Downs Blvd, Tampa, FL 33612-3807, USA
- Rebecca Wells, Department of Health Policy and Management, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina, Campus Box 7411, McGavran-Greenberg Hall, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7411, USA
- Jeffrey A. Alexander, Department of Health Management and Policy, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 109S. Observatory St., M3507 SPH II, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029, USA
- Journal The Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research
- Online ISSN 1556-3308
- Print ISSN 1094-3412