Findings from Harvard Medical School Broaden Understanding of Mental Health Diseases and Conditions (Association of Medicaid Accountable Care Organizations and Postpartum Mental Health Care Utilization): Mental Health Diseases and Conditions

2025 FEB 04 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A new study on Mental Health Diseases and Conditions is now available. According to news originating from Boston, Massachusetts, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “To examine the association of Massachusetts Medicaid Accountable Care Organization (ACO) implementation with changes in mental health care utilization in the postpartum period. Setting and Design: We examine care for people with a birth covered by Medicaid or private insurance.”

Funders for this research include NIH National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), NIH National Heart Lung & Blood Institute (NHLBI), Commonwealth Fund.

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Harvard Medical School, “We used a difference-in-differences design to compare differences before and after Medicaid ACO implementation for those with Medicaid versus those with private insurance. The primary outcome was a binary measure of having at least one outpatient mental health care visit in the 6 months postpartum. We estimated linear probability models controlling for age, prenatal mental illness, pregnancy complications, birth mode, and ZIP code characteristics. Data Sources and Analytic Sample: Data are from the Massachusetts All-Payer Claims Database. The analytic sample included Massachusetts residents with a live birth between July 1, 2016, and September 30, 2019, with complete data. 107,813 births were included (53.0% Medicaid, 47.0% private). 7.8% of these had at least one outpatient mental health visit in the 6 months postpartum, with similar rates among those with Medicaid versus those with private insurance pre-ACO implementation (7.9% Medicaid versus 7.7% private). An increase in utilization among privately insured individuals and a decrease among Medicaid beneficiaries post-ACO implementation was observed. Regression-adjusted difference-in-differences estimates indicate that Medicaid ACO implementation was associated with a 1.3 percentage point [pp] decrease (95% confidence interval: 1.3 pp, -0.5 pp; p< 0.01) in the probability of having an outpatient mental health visit for those with Medicaid. Medicaid ACO implementation was associated with decreases in use of outpatient mental health care in the postpartum period among people with Medicaid, overall and compared to those with private insurance.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Future research should determine whether this increased disparity in mental health care utilization persists with maturation of the ACO delivery model.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Association of Medicaid Accountable Care Organizations and Postpartum Mental Health Care Utilization. Health Services Research, 2025. Health Services Research can be contacted at: Wiley, 111 River St, Hoboken 07030-5774, NJ, USA. (Wiley-Blackwell - http://www.wiley.com/; Health Services Research - http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1475-6773)

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from Brittany L. Ranchoff, Harvard Medical School, Dept. of Population Medicine, Landmark Center, 401 Pk Dr, Suite 401 East, Boston, MA 02215, United States. Additional authors for this research include Kimberley H. Geissler, Laura B. Attanasio and Chanup Jeung.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.14421. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)