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ACA Improves Young Adults Access to

Mental Health Care
Lack of access to mental health care has been a roblem
among !oung adults in the "#S#
In addition to the social stigma
that surrounds mental health
disorders$ lack of insurance
co%erage and limitation to
mental health care ser%ices are
among the ma&or reasons for this
dilemma# 'o(e%er$ the )ational
*ureau of +conomic ,esearch
-)*+,. released a reort in
/une (hich sa!s the 0ffordable
1are 0ct -010. imro%es the
access to mental healthcare
among !oung adults# 0s er the
reort$ e2anded co%erage for !oung adults under this
healthcare reform significantl! increased inatient hosital
%isits related to mental health# 3he healthcare la( allo(s
!oung adults under age 26 to sta! on their arents4 grou
insurance lans started in late 2010#
NBER Study - ey !"nd"ngs
3he o%erall number of inatient %isits related to
mental health among !oung adults aged 19-25 !ears
increased to 6#5 ercent comared to eole aged 27
to 29 (ho could not be sta!ing on their arents4 lans#
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0fter the imlementation of 010$ mental health
admissions of !oung adults increased b! 9 ercent#
0s a result of the Obamacare imlementation$ the
number of !oung adults (ith ri%ate insurance in the
treatment grou in%ol%ed in the sur%e! increased b!
2#1 and 6 ercentage oints#
3he number of !oung adults (ithout health insurance
in the treatment grou in%ol%ed in the sur%e!
decreased b! a marginall! statisticall! significant 1
ercent and statisticall! significant 2#9 ercentage
since the enactment and imlementation of the
healthcare reform#
3he national stud! re%ealed that a ma&or ortion of
s!chiatric admissions came through the emergenc!
deartment#
7hile di%iding mental health categor! into
subcategories of deression$ s!choses and other
mental illnesses using the rele%ant IC# $ codes during
the stud!$ large and statisticall! significant increases
(ere found in all inatient admissions and %isits
through the emergenc! room -+,. for deression ost
Obamacare# 3he stud! obser%ed a si8able increase in
s!choses admissions as (ell#
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3he results from the stud! are slightl! confusing as the
e2erts sa! (hen 9assachusetts e2anded medical
co%erage (ith its 2006 state-based health reform la($ no
significant increases (ere found in the number of mental-
health hositali8ations for !oung adults there# In the
oinion of healthcare e2erts$ communit! caregi%ers ma!
ha%e largel! met the needs of ne(l! insured eole sa%ing
them from %isiting +,s for critical care#
%hree &ays "n 'h"ch ACA Enhances Mental Health
Care Access
010 builds on the 9ental 'ealth :arit! and
0ddictions +;uit! 0ct in order to e2and mental
health and substance use disorder benefits and federal
arit! rotections for more than 60 million eole in
the "#S#$ (hich is one of the biggest e2ansions in
beha%ioral health co%erage#
"nder the healthcare la($ insurance comanies can no
longer den! healthcare co%erage or charge more
because of a re-e2isting health condition including
mental illness#
9ost healthcare lans must co%er re%enti%e ser%ices
including deression screening for adults at no cost as
er this la(#
Challenges (or Hosp"tals '"th Improved Access
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,ise in inatient s!chiatric ser%ices is surel! a ositi%e
sign to hositals as the! (ill get more reimbursement#
'o(e%er$ this trend oses se%eral challenges to healthcare
organi8ations as (ell$ such as<
Manag"ng Surge '"th )"m"ted Resources * 0s the
number of inatient %isits increases$ hositals (ill
ha%e to manage their healthcare needs (ith the
resources the! alread! ha%e# 0 2012 3reatment
0d%ocac! 1enter reort re%eals a significant shortage
in the number of s!chiatric beds nation(ide from
2005-2010# 3he healthcare reform (ill also imel the
use of ad%anced atient care technologies# In such a
scenario$ hosital e2ecuti%es (ill re;uire to
accomlish a huge task of managing a deli%er! s!stem
in (hich more atients (ill be chasing fe(er
resources#
Increased +u,l"c Scrut"ny * 0s se%eral atients get
insured ne(l! (ith the health care reform$ the! (ill
seek hel from litigators and acti%ists to understand
more about the co%erage# 3he! (ill handle atients4
comlaints against the le%el of care and as a result
hositals can e2ect an increase in la(suits and ublic
e2osure#
!"nanc"al Burden * =oung adults (ho don4t (ant to
sta! under arents4 co%erage ma! ;ualif! for 9edicaid
under ro%isions of Obamacare (hich e2and health
care co%erage to indi%iduals (ho earns u to 168
ercent of the federal o%ert! le%el$ deending on
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their income and the location (here the! d(ell# *ut$
hositals face a reduction of >1?#1 billion from @=
201? through 2019 in 9edicaid Aisroortionate
Share :a!ment -AS'. under Obamacare# =oung
adults sta!ing under arents4 co%erage ma! sometimes
;ualif! for ta2 subsidies deending on their income#
3his (ill re;uire hosp"tals to ver"(y "nsurance
documents thoroughl! before the actual %isit#
Shortage o( +sych"atr"sts * 0 recent reort suggests
that s!chiatrists are in short sul! nation(ide# 3hus$
the hosital e2ecuti%es should not onl! manage the
surge of inatient %isits (ith limited resources$ but
(ith fe(er racticing s!chiatrists as (ell#
'ositals (ill re;uire the hel of rofessionals to manage
the re%enue c!cle amidst these challenges and recei%e
roer reimbursement (ithout an! dela!#