Care for drug or alcohol abuse is usually excluded or limited in insurance or employer mandates and parity legislation. One reason is uncertainty about the cost impact of such policies for substance abuse treatment, especially under the changes in the health care environment. To fill this informational gap, this project will study drug and alcohol abuse benefits, access to care, utilization, and costs under managed care, track changes over time, and simulate the consequences of enacting legislation for substance abuse that parallels the variety of parity efforts in mental health under way at the state level.
Its specific aims are: 1. Develop a data base of employer contracts with managed behavioral health care organizations regarding substance abuse care. Collect administrative data on enrollees, access, and claims, and structure them for quantitative analyses. Track changes in benefits related to substance abuse problems, access to care, utilization, and costs over time. 2. Study access, intensity of care, and cost patterns for substance abuse care over time and under different insurance arrangements. 3. Identify the effects of specific benefit designs (limits, deductibles, copayments) on access, intensity of care, and cost, adapting economic models of health care demand. 4. Predict the implications of substance abuse parity using parameters currently discussed for mental health care, combining the detailed models based on administrative data with information from new national surveys to make nationally representative predictions. Particular attention will be paid to differences between employed policyholders, their adult dependents, and their child dependents.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01DA011832-02
Application #
2898252
Study Section
Human Development Research Subcommittee (NIDA)
Program Officer
Cartwright, William S
Project Start
1998-05-01
Project End
2001-03-31
Budget Start
1999-04-01
Budget End
2000-03-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
1999
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Rand Corporation
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
Santa Monica
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
90401
Sturm, R; Stein, B; Zhang, W et al. (2001) Alcoholism treatment in managed private sector plans. How are carve-out arrangements affecting costs and utilization? Recent Dev Alcohol 15:271-84
Stein, B; Orlando, M; Sturm, R (2000) The effect of copayments on drug and alcohol treatment following inpatient detoxification under managed care. Psychiatr Serv 51:195-8
Sturm, R (2000) Managed care risk contracts and substance abuse treatment. Inquiry 37:219-25
Liu, X; Sturm, R; Cuffel, B J (2000) The impact of prior authorization on outpatient utilization in managed behavioral health plans. Med Care Res Rev 57:182-95
Sturm, R; Unutzer, J; Katon, W (1999) Effectiveness research and implications for study design: sample size and statistical power. Gen Hosp Psychiatry 21:274-83
Gresenz, C R; Sturm, R (1999) Who leaves managed behavioral health care? J Behav Health Serv Res 26:390-9
Stein, B; Reardon, E; Sturm, R (1999) Substance abuse service utilization under managed care: HMOs versus carve-out plans. J Behav Health Serv Res 26:451-6
Sturm, R; Zhang, W; Schoenbaum, M (1999) How expensive are unlimited substance abuse benefits under managed care? J Behav Health Serv Res 26:203-10
Schoenbaum, M; Zhang, W; Sturm, R (1998) Costs and utilization of substance abuse care in a privately insured population under managed care. Psychiatr Serv 49:1573-8