The Take-Up of Employer-Sponsored Insurance Among Americans with Mental Disorders: Implications for Health Care Reform

Little is known about how take-up of private health insurance coverage differs between those with and without mental disorders. This study seeks to fill this gap by using data from the 2004–2008 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to examine differences in offers and take-up of employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) among adults aged 27–54. Little evidence that mental disorders are associated with take-up of offers of ESI coverage was found. This suggests that take-up rates in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces by those with and without mental disorders may be similar. The ACA is especially important to Americans with mental disorders, many of whom lack access to ESI coverage to pay for mental health treatment either through their own job or through a spouse’s job.