Increased Service Use Among Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder Associated With Mental Health Parity Law
Increased Service Use Among Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder Associated With Mental Health Parity Law
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DOI：
10.1377/hlthaff.2016.0824
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发表时间：
2017-02-01
期刊：
影响因子：
9.7
通讯作者：
Barry, Colleen L.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Stuart, Elizabeth A.;McGinty, Emma E.;Barry, Colleen L.
自闭症谱系障碍儿童的医疗保健服务往往很昂贵，而且往往不在私人医疗保险范围内。2008年保罗·韦尔斯通和皮特·多梅尼奇《精神健康平等和成瘾平等法》被视为通过消除行为健康和医疗/手术福利之间的差异来改善获得机会的可能手段。我们研究了立法是否与自闭症谱系障碍儿童的精神卫生保健和功能服务的使用和支出增加有关，与法律实施前的时期相比。我们使用全国范围内的医疗保险商业团体索赔数据来检查法律实施前后自闭症谱系障碍儿童的服务使用和支出趋势。对于这些儿童，执行与增加使用精神卫生和非精神卫生服务有关。这些使用的增加与更高的自付支出无关，这表明法律改善了对家庭的财务保护。
Health care services for children with autism spectrum disorder are often expensive and frequently not covered under private health insurance. The 2008 Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act was viewed as a possible means of improving access by eliminating differences between behavioral health and medical/surgical benefits. We examined whether the legislation was associated with increased use of and spending on mental health care and functional services for children with autism spectrum disorder compared to the period prior to implementation of the law. We used nationwide health insurance commercial group claims data to examine trends in service use and spending among children with autism spectrum disorder before and after implementation of the law. For such children, implementation was associated with increased use of both mental health and non-mental health services. These increases in use were not associated with higher out-of-pocket spending, which suggests that the law improved financial protection for families.