Alcohol, drug abuse, and mental health care for uninsured and insured adults.
OBJECTIVE
To compare adults with different insurance coverage in care for alcohol, drug abuse, and mental health (ADM) problems.


METHODS
From a national telephone survey of 9,585 respondents.


METHODS
Follow-up of adult participants in the Community Tracking Study.


METHODS
Self-report survey of insurance plan (Medicare, Medicaid, unmanaged, fully, or partially managed private, or uninsured), ADM need, use of ADM services and treatments, and satisfaction with care in the last 12 months. PRINCIPAL METHODS: Logistic and linear regressions were used to compare persons by insurance type in ADM use.


RESULTS
The likelihood of ADM care was highest under Medicaid and lowest for the uninsured and those under Medicare. Perceived unmet need was highest for the uninsured and lowest under Medicare. Persons in fully rather than partially managed private plans tend to be more likely to have ADM care and ADM treatments given need. Satisfaction with care was high in public plans and low for the uninsured.


CONCLUSIONS
The uninsured have the most problems with access to and quality of ADM care, relative to the somewhat comparable Medicaid population. Persons in fully managed plans had better rather than worse access and quality compared to partially managed plans, but findings are exploratory. Despite low ADM use, those with Medicare tend to be satisfied. Across plans, unmet need for ADM care was high, suggesting changes are needed in policy and practice.
Wells
Kenneth B
KB
RAND, Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138, USA.
Sherbourne
Cathy Donald
CD
Sturm
Roland
R
Young
Alexander S
AS
Burnam
M Audrey
MA
D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017057:Medically Uninsured / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000191:economics*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy*; D014481:United States