Studies from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health in the Area of Mental Health Diseases and Conditions Described (Mental health care use after leaving Medicare Advantage for traditional Medicare): Mental Health Diseases and Conditions

2026 JAN 26 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Researchers detail new data in Mental Health Diseases and Conditions. According to news reporting originating from Baltimore, Maryland, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “To evaluate changes in mental health visits and specialties among beneficiaries with at least 1 mental health visit before and after switching from Medicare Advantage (MA) to traditional Medicare ™. This study examines Medicare beneficiaries with mental health diagnoses who switched from MA to TM in 2018, analyzing their mental health utilization 12 months before and after the switch using MA encounter and TM claims data.”

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, “A longitudinal design was used, comparing mental health visits before and after the switch. We applied Wilcoxon signed rank tests to compare the total number of visits and McNemar tests for specific provider specialties used. Statistical significance was defined as a P value less than .05. Of the 32,710 beneficiaries who switched from MA to TM in 2018, 1184 beneficiaries (11,015 claims) were included in our sample because they had at least 1 health care visit attributed to a mental health condition both before and after switching. We found a statistically significant increase in the number of mental health visits after switching (P = .014). For the top 5 most prevalent specialties used for mental health care, we found no change in the use of psychiatrists (P = .607) or family medicine specialists (P = .696). However, we found increased use of nurse practitioners (P < .001) alongside decreased use of internal medicine (P = .003) and emergency medicine specialists (P = .001) for mental health care after switching.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Among beneficiaries with continued mental health care utilization, switching from MA to TM was associated with increased mental health visits and a shift in provider composition, which suggests potential care gaps or unmet needs in MA.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Mental health care use after leaving Medicare Advantage for traditional Medicare. The American Journal of Managed Care, 2025;31(12):765-771. The American Journal of Managed Care can be contacted at: Managed Care & Healthcare Communications Llc, 666 Plainsboro Rd, Ste 300, Plainsboro, NJ 08536, USA.

The news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Angela Liu, Dept. of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N Wolfe St, Office W7503C, Baltimore, MD 21205. Additional authors for this research include Blake Ayers and Mark K. Meiselbach.

Publisher contact information for the The American Journal of Managed Care is: Managed Care & Healthcare Communications Llc, 666 Plainsboro Rd, Ste 300, Plainsboro, NJ 08536, USA.

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