Insurance-Based Disparities In Access, Utilization, And Financial Strain For Adults With Psychological Distress

Limited provider participation within Medicaid and narrow provider networks on health insurance Marketplaces pose potential barriers to accessing and using the health care system for people with behavioral health needs. We compared employer-sponsored insurance, Medicaid, and Marketplace coverage for people with psychological distress across three domains of health care: access, utilization, and financial strain. We found evidence that adults with psychological distress reported greater difficulty accessing health care relative to those without such distress, regardless of insurance source. Among adults with psychological distress, Medicaid enrollees were more likely to use care and less likely to experience health-related financial strain than those enrolled in employer-sponsored insurance were. However, people with Marketplace coverage were more likely to experience barriers across all domains, relative to people with the other two coverage sources. Policy makers should be cognizant of the participation of providers within Medicaid and the Marketplaces and work to make network breadth more transparent.