Open AccessAfter the Affordable Care Act: the Effects of the Health Safety Net and the Medicaid Expansion on Latinxs’ Use of Behavioral Healthcare in the US
Author(s) -
Robert Rosales,
David T. Takeuchi,
Rocío Calvo
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of behavioral health services and research/the journal of behavioral health services and research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.713
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1556-3308
pISSN - 1094-3412
DOI - 10.1007/s11414-020-09715-3
Subject(s) - health psychology , medicaid , health informatics , safety net , health care , patient protection and affordable care act , public health , health administration , health insurance , medicine , nursing , environmental health , economic growth , economics
This study investigated the association between the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Latinxs' use of behavioral health services in the US. Organizational responses from the 2010, 2014, and 2016 National Mental Health Service Survey were used to examine the number and proportion of outpatient Latinx admissions over time, as well as the role of Medicaid expansion and health safety net funding on Latinxs' admissions. Findings showed that there was an increase in Latinx admissions post-ACA (2014). However, 2 years post-implementation (2016), Latinx admissions were at levels lower than prior to the healthcare reform. Despite this overall decrease, behavioral health safety net organizations, particularly those located in states that adopted the expansion of Medicaid, served more Latinxs than behavioral health service organizations outside the safety net. Policy and practice implications to strengthen behavioral safety net organizations that serve Latinxs are discussed.