Abstract
This article examines the costs of treatment under the Fort Bragg Demonstration. It focuses on the direct costs of mental health services and suggests that expenditures on those services were much higher at the Demonstration. Increased access and greater “doses” of services provided at the Demonstration are identified as the proximal causes of the system-level cost difference. Consideration is given to whether these differences in costs and in service use can be attributed to the continuum of care per se or to differences in the financial arrangements under which care was provided. Supplemental analyses suggest that these expenditures were not offset by cost savings elsewhere. Implications for mental health policy are discussed.
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This research is supported by the U.S. Army Health Services Command (DADA 10-89-C-0013) as a subcontract from the North Carolina Department of Human Resources/Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services, and a grant to Dr. Leonard Bickman (R01MH-46136-01) from the National Institute of Mental Health. This article is part of a special issue that focuses on the Fort Bragg Evaluation. These articles are best understood when read together. The articles are cross-referenced when it is deemed most appropriate.
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Foster, E.M., Summerfelt, W.T. & Saunders, R.C. The costs of mental health services under the Fort Bragg demonstration. The Journal of Mental Health Administration 23, 92–106 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02518646
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02518646