Continued from page 16 NOTEWORTHY treatment than those with a usual source of care (34%) in 2019. Individuals with a usual source of care may receive mental health treatment directly or through referrals to specialized mental health treatment within or outside their usual care source. Having a usual source of care may improve but does not ensure mental health treatment. Irregular or no mental health screening in outpatient settings, difficulty finding or paying for men-tal health services, and coverage limitations may contribute to the lack of treatment, even among insured individuals who report a usual source of care. How have mental health concerns and access to care changed since the pandemic? An increasing share of people across the U.S. have reported poor mental health since the pandemic began. Some popula-tions—including young adults and some communities of color—have fared worse during the pandemic. Higher shares of young adults reported symptoms of anxiety and/ or depressive disorder, increased substance use and thoughts of suicide compared to older adults. Mental distress and deaths due to drug overdose have also disproportion-ately increased among some adults of color compared to white adults. Additionally, black and Hispanic adults have been more likely to experience negative financial impacts and higher rates of COVID-illness and death compared to white adults. Barriers to accessing mental health care predate the pandemic, though they may have worsened in recent years, particularly for at-risk groups. Some steps have been taken to address challenges in accessing mental health care during the pandemic. Telehealth has played an important role in delivering mental health care during the pandemic. Restrictions around the use of telehealth and prescrib-ing over telehealth were temporarily eased as were some state laws around provider licensing and practice authority. In 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act allocated some funds toward behavioral health workforce development and developing mental health mobile crisis support teams. Additionally, the national suicide hotline number, 988, is set to launch in July 2022. There have also been some bipartisan efforts in response to the mental health crisis, including proposed mental health packages and a legislative agenda from the Addiction and Mental Health Task force. Recently, the Biden administration announced its Unity Agenda which proposes improving behavioral health workforce capacity, improving access to care in integrated settings, and expanding insurer coverage requirements. It is unclear how recent policy measures will impact access to mental health treatment, especially among groups who experienced barriers to care even before the pandemic. REPORT SHOWS WHO IS USING TELEHEALTH ValuePenguin recently analyzed telehealth usage data by income, age, gender and more. Here are the findings: • Twenty-two percent of Americans utilized telehealth services in the past four weeks. According to the ValuePenguin analysis of U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey data, nine percent of Americans had a phone appointment in this period, while 11% had a video one. • Low-income Americans were more likely to use telehealth services. Twenty-seven percent of Americans who earn less than $25,000 a year reported using telehealth services, versus 22% of Americans who make $200,000 or more. And 42% of Americans who reported using govern-mental rental assistance in the past week to pay their bills said they used telehealth. • Among every available demographic, transgender American—along with those who use governmental rental assistance to pay bill—reported the highest rate of telehealth use. Forty-two percent of transgender Americans had a phone or video appointment with a doctor, a nurse (53%) with moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety and/or depressive disorder did not receive treatment in the past year. In contrast, there was no significant difference in receipt of treatment between Hispanic and white adults. Data were not sufficient to conduct analyses for other racial groups. Research suggests that structural inequities may con-tribute to disparities in use of mental health care, including lack of health insurance coverage and financial and logistical barriers to accessing care. Moreover, lack of a diverse mental health care workforce, the absence of culturally informed treatment options, and stereotypes and discrimination associated with poor mental health may also contribute to limited mental health treatment among black adults. Men (seven percent) were less likely than women (11%) to report moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety and/or depressive disorder prior to the pandemic. At the same time, men (47%) with moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety and/or depressive disorder were more likely than women (35%) to not receive mental health treatment in the past year. Some research suggests men may be less likely to seek mental health care. Men are also more likely to be uninsured and less likely to report a usual source of care. Uninsured adults with moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety and/or depression (62%) were significantly more likely to not receive mental health care compared to their insured counterparts (36%) in 2019. Narrow mental health networks in private insurance plans, including nongroup plans may be linked to access issues. Prior to the pandemic, individuals enrolled in nongroup plans com-monly reported delayed or forgone care due to cost. Many employers have indicated that they have narrower provider networks for mental health services than other healthcare. Despite having insurance coverage, insured adults with moderate or severe symptoms of anxiety and/or depression and a usual source of outpatient care (57%) were more likely to not receive mental health 18 ABS | benefitspecialistmagazine.com
America's Benefit Specialist May 2022: Page 18
