Spending on Substance Use Disorder Treatment Greatly Exceeds Mental Health Spending

Spending on substance use disorder treatment exceeded that for mental health conditions by nearly six to one in 2020, Axios reports.

Overall, U.S. spending on behavioral health exceeded $280 billion in 2020, including $238 billion for substance use disorder treatment and $42 billion for mental health treatment, according to an analysis by Bourne Partners. The analysis found that spending on substance use treatment in 2020 went to providers, including specialty substance use disorder centers, psychiatric inpatient hospitals and office-based care, as well as prescription medications.

The report found that spending on behavioral health had a compounded annual growth rate of 4.6% from 2009 to 2020. Because substance use disorders can coexist with other mental health issues, providers are branching out and adding services like detox and residential care to lengthen the time they can service a patient, the analysis found. Bourne Partners found that self-insured employers and health plans are increasingly open to home-based substance use disorder care, which was previously seen as not medically necessary. The report also found an increase in efforts to reach certain populations such as substance use disorder treatment for neurodivergent populations.