The cost of access to mental wealth services in managed care

Managed care has controlled the cost of specialty mental health services, b ut its impact on access to care is not well described. In a retrospective d esign, the study used empirical data to demonstrate a direct relationship b etween een managed care plans' claims costs per member per month and the pr oportion of plan members who use specialty mental health services annually. Each increment of $1 per member per month in spending on claims was associ ated with a .9 percent increase ease in the proportion of enrollees receivi ng specialty mental health treatment. These data raise concerns that plans with low per-member per-month costs may unduly restrict access to specialty treatment.