Medicare Advantage Beneficiaries With Mental Health Diagnoses Made More Mental Health Visits After Switching To Traditional Medicare

Among Medicare beneficiaries with mental health diagnoses, those who switched from Medicare Advantage to traditional Medicare in 2018 made more mental health visits after the switch, according to a recent study.

Researchers conducted a longitudinal analysis of Medicare Advantage encounter data and traditional Medicare claims data from 2017 and 2018 for beneficiaries diagnosed with mental health disorders. The comparison focused on mental health utilization for the 12 months before and after beneficiaries switched from Medicare Advantage to traditional Medicare in 2018.

The researchers sought to evaluate changes in mental health visit volume and the types of clinical professionals delivering the . . .