Minority Response to Health Insurance Coverage for Mental Health Services

Background: To promote access to mental health services, policy makers have focused on expanding the availability of insurance and the generosity of mental health benefits. Ethnic minority populations are high priority targets for outreach. However, among persons with private insurance, minorities are less likely than whites to seek outpatient mental health treatment. Among those with Medicaid coverage, minorities continue to be less likely than whites to use services. Aims of the Study: The present study sought to determine if public insurance is as effective in promoting outpatient mental health treatment as private coverage for ethnic minority groups. Methods: The analysis uses data from the 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey to model mental health expenditures as a function of minority status and private insurance coverage. A