Equity in Mental Health Services: Comparing the Treatment of Depression Relative to Asthma - Burnam, Huskamp, Goldman

What health benefit does every dollar spent on mental health care bring? How does that benefit compare with every dollar spent on medical care? The answer to these interlinked questions tells us about equity, i.e., whether there is equal health value for mental health versus other health care spending. Drawing from methods developed by health economists, the Network has, over several years, developed and refined new methods to estimate the value of mental health care relative to general medical care. It selected, as examples, two chronic conditions and their treatment: depression and asthma. The intense methodological work of this project is expected to provide measurement tools that can open an entirely new area of inquiry in mental health policy research. The Network expects that this research will inform the public (consumers, employers, health plans, and policy-makers) about the value of their health care dollars spent on mental health. That will ultimately help shape the policies and practices of supply-side rationing and purchasing of mental health services.

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Last modified: June 1, 2006
©2006 MacArthur Foundation Network on Mental Health Policy Research
Last Revised: June 2006