Managing Medicaid Mental Health Costs: The Case of New Hampshire

The authors evaluate a group of mental health system reforms undertaken in recent years by the state of New Hampshire. A key reform was the coordination of authority over Medicaid and state-run mental health programs, which in most states have historically been operated by separate departments. Preliminary evidence suggests that the reforms have encouraged use of private hospitals and have succeeded in restraining the growth of cost per admission. (November 1995)