Understanding what the US spends to treat mental health and substance use disorders (SUD) is important for understanding spending patterns and informing health policy. This study determined that from 2000 through 2021, mental health and SUD nominal spending grew from $40.9 billion to $139.6 billion. Real per capita mental health and SUD spending grew at an average annual rate of 3.27 percent, which was faster than the growth rate for overall medical services (2.21 percent). The analysis showed that mental health and SUD spending growth was driven primarily by increases in the number of people receiving treatment (representing 87.3 percent of the growth) and to a much lesser extent by increases in the cost per case (12.7 percent of the growth).
Read the full article: US National Spending on Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Treatment Driven by Case Growth, 2000–21 //
Source: https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2025.01351