The costs of mental health services under the Fort Bragg Demonstration

Abstract

The costs of treatment under the Fort Bragg Demonstration are examined. 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. Supplemented analyses suggest that these expenditures were not offset by cost savings elsewhere. Implications of mental health policy are discussed.