The COVID-19 pandemic made it harder for racial and ethnic minority groups to gain access to mental health and substance-use treatment services. In 2021, nearly 23% of U.S. adults experienced a mental illness, with that rate jumping to 34.9% among mixed-race individuals. Mental healthcare is important for overall wellbeing, yet many racial and ethnic minority groups face obstacles to accessing care. These obstacles include insufficient health insurance, lack of racial and ethnic diversity among providers, and financial strain.
During National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month this July, health plans can discover new methods to close mental healthcare gaps for their members. As mental health and substance use disorders often require initial and long-term solutions, follow-up care and medication adherence are essential to HEDIS® and other quality measure scores. This includes the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Core Measures for Medicaid and CMS’s proposed “Universal Foundation” of quality measures, which incorporate several measures related to behavioral health. In addition, as the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) seeks to advance health equity by leveraging race and ethnicity stratification in HEDIS to hold health plans accountable for disparities in care among their patient populations, plans must seek to determine where gaps exist and determine concrete plans that reduce disparities in care and outcomes.
Explore effective strategies for engagement, improve measure scores and prioritize mental health care for your members as part of our Closing the Gap series.
