Cost-financed mental health facility. III. Economic issues and implications for future patterns of health care.
Data are presened concerning the economics of a cost-financed mental health facility and a lobor union  insurance program. The total cost per insured enrolle for all mental health services did not exceed $5.41 per year. The cost per treated patient per year remained under $490. These data strongly support the feasibility of including mental health benefits in national health insurance. Costs are then compared between fee-for-service insurance and cost financing. Average costs per treated patient in the cost-financed facility were $302 over a 4-year period. Similar computations under fee-for services financing showed costs of $824. The difference reflects much greater use of hospitalizations in the fee-for-service system. These data and the data from the preceding two papers on the clinical and utilization partterns of cost-financed facilites suggest that these facilities are practical clinical forms. Implications for national health insurance, HMO legislation, and community mental health centers are explored.
D003156:Community Mental Health Services; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D004180:Direct Service Costs; D005260:Female; D006264:Health Benefit Plans, Employee; D006279:Health Maintenance Organizations; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007348:Insurance, Health; D007358:Insurance, Psychiatric; D007750:Labor Unions; D008297:Male; D008396:Maryland; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009313:National Health Programs