Working Paper: NBER ID: w11557
Authors: Ernst R. Berndt; Alisa B. Busch; Richard G. Frank; Sharonlise Normand
Abstract: Health accounts document changes over time in the level and composition of health spending. There has been a continued evolution in the ability to track such outlays. Less rapid has been the ability to interpret changes in spending. In this paper we apply quality adjusted price indexes for several major mental disorders to national mental health account estimates to assess changes in real "output". We show that using the new price indexes reveals large gains in real output relative to application of BLS indexes.
Keywords: mental health; real output; price indexes; health care spending
JEL Codes: I10; C43; O33
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| newly constructed episode-based price indexes (C43) | higher real output growth (O49) |
| traditional medical care price deflators from BLS (E31) | lower real output growth (O49) |
| changes in spending (D12) | driven by price and quantity adjustments (L11) |
| treatment composition (L65) | decline in average treatment costs for depression (I12) |
| improved quality of care (L15) | increase in percentage of treated episodes meeting guideline standards (I18) |