National Estimates Of Expenditures For Mental Health And Substance Abuse Treatment 1977

An estimated 28% of the adult U.S. population will suffer from a mental health or substance abuse (MH/SA) disorder, including alcohol or drug abuse problem, during the course of a year. This report addresses the following key questions: How much is spent in the U.S. to treat MS/SA disorders? How are the expenditures distributed by payer and provider type? How has spending changed from 1987 to 1997? How do MH/SA expenditures compare to those for all U.S. health care? This work is based primarily on nationally representative databases with multiple years of data, which generally cover the study period of 1987 to 1997. Charts and tables. Also includes a 35-page GAO report, "Mental Health: Community-Based Care Increaes for People with Serious Mental Illness" (Dec. 2000).

This study develops ongoing estimates of national spending on health care services related to the diagnosis and treatment of mental health and substance abuse (MH/SA) conditions. This report presents estimates for 1997 and a revision of the series from 1987 through 1996. It is the second set of estimates produced under the project by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Admin. Contents: (1) Background and Study Methods; (2) Expenditures for MH/SA and All Health Care, 1997; (3) Trends in MH/SA and All Health Care, 1978-1997; (4) Mental Health Expenditure Trends; (5) Substance Abuse Expenditure Trends; (6) Conclusions; (7) References. Tables and graphs.

About 11% of the adult population of the U.S. will suffer from a substance (SA) problem, including alcohol &/or drug abuse, during the course of a year. This report is based on a larger study of mental health and substance abuse (MH/SA) treatment expenditures designed to provide periodic expenditure estimates. This report examines questions specifically for substance abuse: How much is spent in the U.S. to treat alcohol &/or drug abuse disorders? How are the expenditures distributed by payer and provider type? How has spending changed from 1987 to 1997? How do SA expenditures compare to those for mental health and all U.S. health care? Charts and tables.