Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services in Ten State Medicaid Programs

Program data for 1993 on Medicaid mental health and substance abuse (MH/SA) services and expenditures were developed from Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) research files for 10 states. These data show that MH/SA service users are 7 to 13% of Medicaid enrollees. The percentage of Medicaid enrollees accounted for by MH/SA users increases with age, reaching a fifth of the 45–64 age group. Across the 10 states, MH/SA spending represents 11% of total Medicaid expenditures. When their expenditures for non-MH/SA services are also considered, MH/SA users account for 28% of total Medicaid expenditures.