Access to Behavioral Health Care in Michigan, 2019 Data Update

Lack of access to behavioral health care remains a critical issue—resulting in unmet needs, delays in care, financial burden, and reduced health and wellbeing for Michiganders.

Funded by the Michigan Health Endowment Fund, this report provides an update to Altarum’s previous comprehensive assessment of access to behavioral health care across the state that used 2016 data. Using administrative claims data for calendar year 2019, the new report provides a picture of access just prior to the pandemic, tracking changes over a three-year period and establishing a valuable baseline for future study of pandemic-related impacts.

The updated study includes data on Michiganders covered under private insurance, Medicaid, and Medicare. Access is the percentage of individuals with behavioral health needs who received at least one instance of treatment in the year of study. While this does not account for the quality or completeness of care Michiganders receive, the results provide an updated picture to quantify any changes since 2016.

The new analysis also adds more detailed information on behavioral health care utilization, including for subpopulations—women who were pregnant or gave birth in 2019 and children in the foster care system.

In addition to an in-depth report, accompanying policy one-pagers summarize top-level findings separately for the Medicare, Medicaid, privately-insured, and total Michigan populations.

Download all reports under "View Materials."