Millions of Americans with behavioral health conditions aren’t receiving needed care due to myriad barriers to care. Further, a recent Milliman analysis found individuals with behavioral health conditions are major drivers of cost in the US health care system – inflating costs by up to 6-7 times compared to non-behavioral health populations. These higher costs are largely driven by increased utilization of emergency department and inpatient stays, which often function as primary care for individuals with untreated behavioral health issues that cause or exacerbate chronic medical comorbidities. The high-cost behavioral health group in the analysis accounted for only 5.7% of the total population, yet drove 44% of total healthcare costs, with little to none spent on behavioral healthcare. The result for health insurance providers is that a small, complex population is driving millions of dollars in avoidable spending.

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Behavioral Health

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