U.S. Spending on Mental Health Care Soaring
This is a very interesting article I’ve just come across pertaining to mental health. As the title of this post suggests, this article discusses the U.S.’s spending on mental health care. Check it out directly below this sentence.
WEDNESDAY, Aug. 5 (HealthDay News) — U.S. spending on mental illness is soaring at a faster pace than spending on any other health care category, new government data released Wednesday shows.
The cost of treating mental disorders rose sharply between 1996 and 2006, from $35 billion (in 2006 dollars) to almost $58 billion, according to the report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
At the same time, the report showed, the number of Americans who sought treatment for depression, bipolar disorder and other mental health woes almost doubled, from 19 million to 36 million.
The new statistics come on the heels of a study, released Monday, that found antidepressant use among U.S. residents almost doubled between a similar time frame, 1996 and 2005.
Spending on mental illness showed a faster rate of growth over the 10-year period analyzed than costs for heart disease, cancer, trauma-linked disorders, and asthma.
According to the report, spending on heart disease rose from $72 billion in 1996 to $78 billion in 2006; cancer care rose from $47 billion to $58 billion; asthma costs climbed from $36 billion to $51 billion, and expenditures for trauma-related care rose from $46 billion to $68 billion.
In terms of per-patient costs, cancer led the way at $5,178 in 2006 (up slightly from $5,067 in 1996), while costs for trauma care and asthma rose sharply — from $1,220 to $1,953 and from $863 to $1,059, respectively.
On the other hand, average per-patient spending for heart conditions fell, from $4,333 to $3,964. And spending on mental disorders declined from $1,825 to $1,591.
In the Monday study, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, researchers reported that 10.12 percent of U.S. residents aged 6 and over, or 27 million people, were using antidepressants in 2005, compared to 5.84 percent, or 13.3 million people, in 1996.
The increase seemed to span virtually all demographic groups.
“This is a 20-year trend and it’s very powerful,” remarked Dr. Eric Caine, chair of the department of psychiatry and co-director of the Center for the Study of Prevention of Suicide at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
While I think it is great that the U.S. has been increasing spending for mental health care, I’m not sure how I feel about what exactly the U.S. is spending it on. The article states that the cost of mental health care has risen greatly and that more money is being spent on mental health care, but it also states that the number of people on anti-depressants has risen greatly as well. In fact, the number of people on anti-depressants has just about doubled!
Don’t get me wrong, I do believe that in some cases medication can help with mental illness (after all, I did take Zoloft myself). However, the fact that the number of people on anti-depressants has just about doubled worries me. I am worried that prescription medication is being pushed upon people with mental illnesses who don’t really need it. Anyhow, I don’t want to ramble on too much. Be sure to post a comment of what you think about this particular article.
Source: empowher
