It leaves me feeling defeated: searching for in-network mental health care with marketplace insurance
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Author(s):
- Silliman, Rebecca, author McNally, Erin, author Vargas-Sullivan, Cruz, author Schleifer, David, author
- Contributor(s):
- Public Agenda Foundation, issuing body.
- Publication:
- [Brooklyn, New York] : Public Agenda, 2023
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Health Insurance Exchanges Health Services Accessibility Insurance Coverage Medically Underserved Area Mental Health Services United States
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- How difficult is it for people with marketplace insurance to find in-network health care providers, and how do delays and challenges in accessing care affect people’s lives? This report is based on in-depth qualitative research that followed seventeen people covered by insurance plans purchased on state and federal marketplaces as they tried to find in-network mental health care providers. None of the seventeen participants managed to schedule an appointment with an in-network provider that took place during the study, even though sixteen of them had been searching for providers even before the study began. They found the search process to be complex, time-consuming, and frustrating. Participants reported that searching and delays in getting care negatively affected their mental health, relationships, work or school, physical health, and finances. To increase access to mental health care, participants wanted insurers to cover more mental health care providers and to make out-of-network providers more affordable. They also wanted more streamlined processes for identifying in-network providers and to eliminate the need for referrals for mental health care. The participants in this study were searching for mental health care providers because they had newly identified a need for mental health care, because they lost their employment and had to purchase coverage that their existing providers did not accept, or because the no-cost therapy sessions available under their existing plans ran out. Participants answered weekly structured prompts from October 11 to November 14, 2022, as they searched for providers, tried to figure out which were in network, obtained referrals when needed, and tried to schedule appointments. A companion study followed people covered by marketplace plans as they tried to find and schedule appointments with in-network diabetes care providers. The methodology section of this report provides more information about how this study was conducted.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (23 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918680385006676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918680385006676