Managed care has produced dramatic changes in the treatment of mental health and substance abuse problems, known as behavioral health. Managing Managed Care offers an urgently needed assessment of managed care for behavioral health and a framework for purchasing, delivering, and ensuring the quality of behavioral health care. It presents the first objective analysis of the powerful multimillion-dollar accreditation industry and the key accrediting organizations. Managing Managed Care draws evidence-based conclusions about the effectiveness of behavioral health treatments and makes recommendations that address consumer protections, quality improvements, structure and financing, roles of public and private participants, inclusion of special populations, and ethical issues. The volume discusses trends in managed behavioral health care, highlighting the emerging role of the purchaser. The committee explores problems of overlap and fragmentation in the delivery of behavioral health care and discusses the issue of access, a special concern when private systems are restricted and public systems overburdened. Highly applicable to the larger health care system, this volume will be of particular interest to all stakeholders in behavioral healthâ€"federal and state policymakers, public and private purchasers, health care providers and administrators, consumers and consumer advocates, accrediting organizations, and health services researchers.

Provides summaries of statistical information on topics that will be of concern in health care. Chapters on managed care include policy considerations, lessons learned from behavioral managed care approaches, the status of managed behavioral health care in America, & behavioral health care in HMOs. Other chapters provide mental health epidemiological data for adults & children, information on mental health in Medicare & Medicaid programs, mental health services in rural areas, & data on mental health providers. Most chapters cover topics not included in previous editions.

Reviews questions concerned with the financing and provision of Mental Health/Substance Abuse (MH/SA) services that planners need to address in current reform proposals. Summarizes how the Clinton proposals addressed these problems. Describes the discussions that helped shape the plan and the provisions in it that would affect MH/SA services. Outlines the ongoing issues around MH/SA benefits that concern both the Clinton plan and its legislative alternatives. Numerous figures, graphs and tables.