The Policy Core is concerned with the effect of public policies and market forces on the organization of mental health care. The Policy Core will undertake four specific research projects. 1. Mental Health Care Access, Utilization, and Costs under Different Benefit Structures in a Managed Care Environment. This project use proprietary data bases from managed care companies that are available at the Center to identify the effects of specific benefit designs (limits, deductibles, copayments). 2. Mental Health Insurance Choices: This project estimates choice of mental health insurance coverage as a function of health status and economic characteristics of the individual and the plan. 3. Contracting and Risk Sharing Between Employers, Managed Care Organization, and Clinicians. This project explores the relationship between purchasers and providers using proprietary data from managed care organizations. 4. Corporatization in the Context of Mental Health Care. This project will further our understanding of the internal organization of mental health delivery systems and provide an important link to the more clinical health services projects in the other Cores. It will study the market and societal factors leading to vertically and horizontally integrated health care informs and to the separation of mental health from medical care plans. In addition the Policy Core promotes new proposals of financing and organization of managed health care and legislation and marketing affecting managed care. The Policy Core investigators also work collaboratively with other cores.
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