ARLINGTON, Va. – People with mental illness reported that they were more likely to be insured and thus better able to access health and mental health services following implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), according to a new study published online today in Psychiatric Services in Advance. Effects were seen in states that had expanded Medicaid and in states that did not.
Researchers lead by Kathleen C. Thomas, Ph.D., with the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, examined the impact of health reform for people with mental illness. They used the Health Reform Monitoring Survey to examine health insurance, access to care, and employment for more than 1,500 people with mental health conditions pre- and post-implementation of ACA. They compared survey results from 2013, before ACA implementation (...
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