The financial impact on community mental health centers of capitated contracts with Medicaid: The Utah Prepaid Mental Health Plan

Under the Utah Prepaid Mental Health Plan, three of the eleven Community Me ntal Health Centers in Utah signed capitation contracts with the state Medi caid program. The capitated Centers initially accepted the risk for inpatie nt care, with the risk later being extended to also include outpatient serv ices. This study contrasts the financial experiences of the capitated Cente rs and five noncontracting Centers. While various patterns of financial man agement are evident in the data, it appears that the decision to contract h ad, at worst, a neutral effect on overall financial performance. Managed ca re programs with different designs may have different results.