Medicare Parity and Outpatient Mental Health Service Use and Costs Among Beneficiaries With Depression.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Less than half of the US population with any mental health condition receives services. Cost is the most commonly cited barrier to treatment.

Objective

To examine whether service use and out-of-pocket expenditures among Medicare beneficiaries with depression changed after Medicare implemented equal cost-sharing for outpatient mental health and medical services (Medicare parity).

Design, setting, and participants

This economic evaluation used a single-group, interrupted time series design and examined data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Household Component from 2008 to 2019. The sample included Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 years or older with depression. Data were analyzed from June 2, 2023, to June 17, 2024.

Exposure

Under the Medicare I

SUBMITTER: Tetlow SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12048850 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature