Medical Costs for Kids’ Mental Health Jumped 31% in 5 Years

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by HealthDay.

The cost to American families of caring for a child with a mental health condition jumped by almost a third between 2017 and 2021.

It now costs an average $4,361 more per year for a U.S. family to care for a child with a mental health condition, compared to families without such children, a new study has found.

Overall, American families spent an estimated $31 billion in 2021 on child mental health services, which now make up nearly half (about 47%) of all child medical spending, the report found.

The findings “underscore the large financial burden associated with pediatric mental health conditions on the U.S. health care system,” said a team led by Theoren Loo.

The findings were published March 11 in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA Network Open.

Source: HealthDay
https://www.healthday.com/health-news/mental-health/medical-costs-for-kids-mental-health-jumped-31-in-5-years