Mental Health Services and Policy

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

This panel brings together three papers that leverage quasi-experimental and experimental methods to evaluate recent innovations in mental health services and policy, with a focus on financial barriers and behavioral design. Collectively, the papers contribute to a growing health economics literature examining how insurance design and choice architecture influence mental health care utilization.

The first paper evaluates Colorado’s annual mental health wellness exam policy, which eliminates cost-sharing for a dedicated mental health visit. Using a difference-in-differences framework, the study estimates the policy’s impact on psychotherapy initiation, mental health diagnoses, and other mental health service utilization. The findings speak to the extent to which reducing financial barriers for preventive mental health care can increase engagement with the treatment system.

The second paper examines New Mexico’s policy eliminating cost-sharing for behavioral health services. This study assesses changes in cost and utilization across a broader set of mental health and substance use disorder services. By focusing on a comprehensive removal of cost-sharing, the paper provides insight into how more expansive financial protections affect patterns of care.

The third paper presents a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial testing a behavioral economics–informed intervention to increase postpartum primary care engagement. The intervention bundled default appointment scheduling (opt-out rather than opt-in) with salient reminder messages. This analysis focuses on participants with baseline depression and anxiety, examining the intervention’s impact on postpartum mental health care utilization. The results highlight the role of non-financial barriers and the potential for low-cost behavioral nudges to improve care uptake among high-risk populations.

Together, these papers provide complementary evidence on how both financial and behavioral policy levers can shape mental health care utilization. By integrating insights from insurance design and behavioral economics, the panel will inform ongoing policy debates about how best to expand access to mental health services and improve population mental health. The discussion will emphasize implications for state policy, as well as directions for future research.

Policy Area

• Health Policy

Chair

• Mark Katz Meiselbach, Johns Hopkins University

Discussants

• Jennifer A Mangano, Indiana University

• Kayla Nicole Tormohlen, Cornell University

Organizer

• Hridika Shah, Johns Hopkins University

Individual Presentations

• Exploring Early Effects of Colorado’s Annual Mental Health Wellness Exam Policy - Presenting Author: Hridika Shah, Johns Hopkins University

• Effects of a No Cost Sharing Mandate for Behavioral Health Care in its First Year - Presenting Author: James Matthew Campbell, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• A Behavioral Economics Intervention for Postpartum Primary Care Engagement Among Individuals with Anxiety and Depression - Presenting Author: Julia Eddelbuettel, Harvard University