For years, debates over Medicaid spending have centered on one question: Does paying doctors more simply increase healthcare costs? New research suggests the answer may be more complicated. A study from the City University of New York Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy found that states paying psychiatrists higher Medicaid reimbursement rates actually saw lower overall healthcare costs for adults with serious mental illness.
The findings, published in the June issue of the American Journal of Managed Care, suggest that improving access to outpatient mental healthcare may help reduce expensive hospitalizations and emergency department visits, challenging the long-held assumption that higher provider payments always translate into higher spending.
