Research Brief
Are People With Mental Illness Getting the Help They Need? New Findings About Parity Laws, Insurance Coverage, and Access to Care
Jan 1, 2000
Published in: Psychiatric Services, v. 51, no. 2, Feb. 2000, p. 177
Posted on RAND.org on January 01, 2000
Although managed care is generally associated with a reduced intensity of care, no recent national data are available about how plans using more or fewer managed care techniques differ in meeting the perceived needs of their enrollees. This report demonstrates the importance of defining access to care more broadly. If unmet need is defined as no care at all, as in previous studies, it would appear to have declined under managed care. However, no such decline is found when the definition also includes less care or delayed care. Thus, while managed care may have improved access to some treatment, significant problems remain in providing access to comprehensive care.
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