Untreated mental illness cost the U.S. economy an estimated $477.5 billion in 2024 and is expected to exceed $1.3 trillion annually by 2040, according to a Trilliant Health report published April 14.
The report analyzes data from its national all-payer claims database alongside Trilliant Health’s provider directory and health plan price-transparency data to identify emerging behavioral health trends.
Here are 10 things to know from the report:
- Between 2008 and 2024, the prevalence of mental illness grew 5.7 percentage points.
Multiracial individuals had the highest prevalence of mental illness and substance use disorders, at 35.5% and 24.9%, respectively. - Mental health treatment rates are almost seven times higher than treatment rates for substance use disorders.
- Multiracial individuals, adolescents and women have the highest rates of mental health treatment at 31.1%, 28.5% and 28.2%, respectively.
Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program beneficiaries have the highest treatment rates, while the uninsured have the lowest treatment rates despite experiencing a higher prevalence of mental illness. - Mental health and substance use disorder services accounted for 7.4% of total personal healthcare spending in 2019, an increase of 30.8% and 87.5%, respectively, since 2010.
- Drug- and alcohol-induced death has increased 176.1% since 1999, with mortality increasing more than 100% among men of all ages since 2004.
- More than half of all patients who present to the emergency department with alcohol, substance use disorder or anxiety did not receive specialized follow-up care within 30 days.
- Women are almost twice as likely to receive prescription treatment for mental health compared to men.
Between 2018 and 2024, prescription rates grew 53.3% for stimulants and 46.5% for antipsychotics.
- Demand for mental health services will exceed workforce supply by 2038, with a projected gap of 36,780 full-time equivalents in adult psychiatry and 99,780 in mental health counseling.
- Between 2018 and 2024, nurse practitioners and physician assistants surpassed psychiatrists to become the most common behavioral health prescriber type.
- The projected $1.3 trillion economic cost of untreated mental illness by 2040 is driven by $911.9 billion for premature death, $252.3 billion for workforce productivity and $17.5 billion for overutilization of emergency departments.
Read the full report here.
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