Medical spending in families with children diagnosed with a mental health condition has been on the rise, according to a study published March 11 in JAMA Network Open.
The study pulled data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, a nationally representative sample of the U.S. population with information on medical spending, use and demographic information across households.
The study estimated the weighted prevalence of mental health diagnoses and total medical spend from 2017 to 2021 among households with children aged 5 to 17 years and found that the prevalence of mental health diagnoses rose from 21.3% to 25.9% across four years.
Pediatric mental health conditions were linked to a $4,361 increase in total medical spending for the child in 2021, a 31.3% increase from 2017. They were also linked to $2,337 higher total medical spending among household members in 2021.
The study also found that pediatric mental health conditions led to $31 billion in child spending and $59 billion in household spending, accounting for 46.6% of all pediatric medical spending in 2021.