Medicaid Beneficiaries With Schizophrenia Had 50% To 92% Higher Health Care Utilization Rates

Medicaid beneficiaries with schizophrenia had 51% more outpatient visits, 74% more inpatient stay days, 79% more emergency department visit days, and 92% more long-term care stay days than those without schizophrenia. Those with schizophrenia also had 5.2 times more one-day visits at a mental health institute (MHI), and 15.8 times more MHI stay days.

The higher utilization rate led to average total costs of $28,644 for those with schizophrenia, about 51% higher than the average total cost of $14,557 for people without schizophrenia. The higher costs for those with schizophrenia were driven by long . . .