The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on behavioral health
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Series Title(s):
- TrendWatch (American Hospital Association)
- Contributor(s):
- American Hospital Association, issuing body.
- Publication:
- [Washington, D.C.] : American Hospital Association, May 2022
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Behavioral Medicine -- trends COVID-19 Facilities and Services Utilization -- trends Mental Disorders -- epidemiology Mental Health Services -- trends Telemedicine United States
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant impacts to behavioral health access and services in the U.S.: (1) In-person, outpatient professional behavioral health visits have declined heavily throughout the pandemic, falling by as much as 75% for consumers with commercial insurance, 56% for Medicare beneficiaries and 25% for Medicaid beneficiaries. (2) Overall, utilization of behavioral health disorder services for all ages from birth to 64 dropped substantially in April 2020 and continued to decline through October 2020 in nearly all states. (3) Preliminary evidence from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests a sharp increase in the number of adults reporting adverse behavioral health conditions during the pandemic, compared to prior years. (4) The pandemic exacerbated pre-existing strains in the nation’s behavioral health services, especially among communities facing sustained hardship, including, young people, the LGBTQ+ population and historically underrepresented populations. (5) Health professional shortages have long impeded behavioral health care access, and are largely attributable to low reimbursement/provider payment, as well as the recent and imminent retirement of more than half of the current workforce. (6) As restrictions on telehealth loosened, including HIPAA requirements for video-conferencing software and geographic requirements, providers conducted 75% of behavioral health visits via telehealth in May and June 2020 for patients with commercial insurance. (7) Lower overall adoption rates of telehealth for Medicaid beneficiaries highlight potential challenges with access to technology, computers or tablets.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-ND license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (15 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918523085806676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918523085806676