Medicaid expansion to lead to increased demand for mental health services

For the thousands of Ohioans who become eligible for Medicaid last month because of expansion,  finding  mental health or substance abuse treatment may prove challenging because of the combination of increased demand for service and a lack of counselors and behavioral therapists who accept Medicaid patients (Source: “Medicaid expansion is expected to strain mental health services,” McClatchy News Service, Feb. 13, 2014).

According to data from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 24.1 percent, or 136,765, of unisured Ohio adults who are newly eligible for Medicaid under expansion suffer from mental illness, with 70,369 of them suffering from serious mental illness. The data also shows that 118,038 of the newly eligible Ohioans suffer from substance abuse disorder.

“As more people are insured, more people are also going to be seeking services,” said Rusty Selix, the executive director of the California Council of Community Mental Health Agencies. “Our biggest concern is more competition for a limited number of professionals and the cost pressures that’s going to create. We’re going to have to pay more to retain people. It’s supply and demand.”