AHRQ report shows average mental health hospitalization $15,400
Mental illness touches most Americans during their lifetimes, either directly or indirectly, according to a report released Oct. 31 by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Early treatment can help prevent hospitalizations due to mental illness and lower costs, researchers found.
The study based on 2006 data found one in five U.S. community hospital patients had a mental health condition as a principal or secondary diagnosis, with the mean hospital stay costing $15,400.
The average length of stay for mental health hospitalizations was 8.2 days versus 4.6 days for other types of hospitalizations, according to the study.
Dani K. Saba,., Katharine R. Levit, and Anne Elixhauser, researchers of the study, said approximately 5.8 percent of American adults suffer from serious mental illness each year, translating to more than one in twenty individuals over the age of 18 with a serious mental disorder.
About 1.4 million patients were hospitalized for a mental illness, while another 7.1 million patients had mental illness as a secondary diagnosis, the study found.
The study was based on 2006 data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), a nationwide database of hospital inpatient stays nationally representative of all community hospitals.
Researchers found mental illness often co-occurs with other conditions, complicating treatment and raising overall medical costs. When mental illness goes untreated, it is more likely to result in a hospitalization, researchers said.
The recent passage of mental health parity legislation for private health insurance coverage should help to increase access to mental health treatment, researchers added.
The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008, passed Oct. 3 as part of the Wall Street bailout package, requires health insurance plans that offer mental health and addiction coverage to provide coverage equal to that offered for other physical illnesses.
Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), champion of a mental health parity law, said it is expected to improve mental healthcare coverage for an estimated 113 million Americans.
The study found Medicare and Medicaid were the expected payers for 6 out of every 10 mental health stays, while private insurance paid for slightly more than 2 out of 10 of the stays. Slightly less than 1 out of every 10 stays with a principal mental health diagnosis was uninsured.
Mood disorders and schizophrenia were the most common reasons for mental health hospital stays—responsible for 82 percent of all mental health hospitalizations, according to the study.
