title: Mental health services for children in large, employer-based health plans, 1999.
abstract: This study examines 1999 data from Medstat's MarketScan database of privately insured employees of US firms and their dependents. Of enrolled children and adolescents ages 2-18, 6.6% had claims for mental health services. Average outpatient expenditures per user were $651. Of children/adolescents with claims for mental health services (MH claimants), 3.4% had inpatient MH services, with an average length of stay of 8.9 days and average MH-related inpatient expenditure per user of $7,048. One half of MH claimants who had pharmacy benefit data had claims for psychotropic medications, with average expenditures per user of $328. Whereas children/adolescent mental health users comprised 8.3% of all service users, expenditures for their care were 20.5% of all service expenditures for children/adolescents in private health plans. Results also highlight the importance of including data on psychotropic medication in analysis of children's MH services utilization, as well as the need to consider the use of psychotropic medications among children/adolescents who do not utilize other MH services.
authors.affiliation: New England Research Institutes, Watertown, MA 02472, USA. mjlarson@neriscience.com
authors.forename: Mary Jo
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Larson
authors.forename: Kay
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.forename: Kathleen J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Fleming
authors.forename: Judith L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Teich
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016497:Adolescent Health Services / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002648:Child; D002662:Child Health Services / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006264:Health Benefit Plans, Employee / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D011619:Psychotropic Drugs