Who Insures The SMI Population? The Answer Is Not What You May Think

We just wrapped up an analysis of the consumer population with a serious mental illness (SMI) and their insurance coverage. Which leads me to ask the question - who insures the SMI population?

If you answered Medicaid (which was the answer offered by most of my colleagues) you would be wrong. Of the individuals with an SMI, the majority, 6.42 million (30%) have health care coverage through commercial health plans, as of 2018. The second largest insurer of individuals with SMI, with 6.38 million (30%) people, was Medicare. This is a change from 2016, when 34% of adults with . . .