Reports Outline Mental Health Diseases and Conditions Study Results from McLean Hospital (Value-based Insurance Design: Clinically Nuanced Consumer Cost-sharing for Mental Health Services): Mental Health Diseases and Conditions

2023 DEC 07 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Current study results on Mental Health Diseases and Conditions have been published. According to news originating from Belmont, Massachusetts, by NewsRx editors, the research stated, “While consumer cost-sharing is a widely used strategy to mitigate health care spending, numerous studies have demonstrated that even modest levels of out-of-pocket cost are as-sociated with lower use of medical care, including clinically nec-essary, high-value services. Within mental health care, increases in cost-sharing are associated with reductions in use of mental health care and psychotropic medication use.”

Financial supporters for this research include Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality, West Health Policy Center, Arnold Ventures, National Pharmaceutical Council, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute - PCORI, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), State of Michigan, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from McLean Hospital, “Further, these reductions in mental health services and treatments can lead to downstream con-sequences including worsening of psychiatric illness and increased need for acute care and psychiatric hospitalization. Thus, there is a need for clinically informed solutions that explicitly balance the need for appropriate access to essential mental health services and treatments with growing fiscal pressures faced by public and private payers. Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) describes a model where consumer cost-sharing is based on the potential clinical bene-fit rather than the price of a specific health care service or treatment. Aims of the Study: Describe value-based insurance design and ap-plications in mental health care. Discussion and Implications for Health Policies: For over two decades, clinically nuanced VBID programs have been im-plemented in an effort to optimize the use of high-value health ser-vices and enhance equity through reduced consumer cost-sharing. Overall, the evidence suggests that VBID has demonstrated success in reducing consumer out-of-pocket costs associated with specific, high value services. By reducing financial barriers to essential clini-cal services and medications, VBID has potential to enhance equity.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “However, the impact of VBID on overall mental health care spend-ing and clinical outcomes remains uncertain.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Value-based Insurance Design: Clinically Nuanced Consumer Cost-sharing for Mental Health Services. The Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics, 2023;26(3):101-108. The Journal of Mental Health Policy and Economics can be contacted at: Int Ctr Mental Health Policy & Economics-icmpe, Via Daniele Crespi 7, Milano, 20123, Italy.

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from Nicole M. Benson, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, United States.

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