K01-Funded Study Highlights Mental Health Access for Older Adults in Medicare Advantage Plans
NIMH K01 awarded economist and Assistant Professor Mark Meiselbach, PhD shares his work on provider networks and Medicare Advantage policies affecting mental health care access for older adults.
As the U.S. population ages, ensuring access to mental health care for older adults is crucial. Yet, for many enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans, finding a mental health provider remains a challenge.
We spoke with Mark Meiselbach, PhD, assistant professor and economist in the Department of Health Policy and Management, and, member of the leadership team at the Center for Mental Health and Addiction Policy (CMAP) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, about his research on older adults funded by a K01 Career Development Award from the National Institutes on Mental Health (NIMH).
The K01 is a career development award designed to support early-career researchers in building the skills and experience needed to become independent investigators. For Dr. Meiselbach, the K01 provides critical protected time and support to deepen his expertise in mental health policy and strengthen collaborations.
Dr. Meiselbach uses economics as a lens into how people respond to policies and incentives. His work focuses on the areas of health insurance markets, mental health, and behavioral outcomes, with an emphasis on older adults. The K01-funded research addresses how provider networks and regulatory incentives in Medicare Advantage affect access to mental health care.
Although mental health is often framed as a younger person’s issue, rates of depression, anxiety, and substance use are rising among older adults. Suicide rates are particularly high among older men, and access to timely, appropriate care is essential. One focus area of Dr. Meiselbach’s research looks into risk adjustment incentives, which are methods used by Medicare to account for differences in patient complexity and health status. These incentives may unintentionally discourage plans from enrolling patients with psychiatric needs, as these patients are seen as less profitable and harder to manage within standard care networks.
Using quasi-experimental designs and a wide variety of publicly available Medicare data, Dr. Meiselbach is examining how provider networks and regulatory structures affect access to mental health care across different demographics and regions. One early insight from this research finds that patients newly diagnosed with depression or other mental health conditions are more likely to switch out of their Medicare Advantage plans. This highlights the current red flags in the adequacy of current networks.
Looking ahead, Dr. Meiselbach hopes to dive deeper into the risk adjustment mechanisms to understand how they shape plan incentives. Additionally, he plans on studying the impact of provider network changes on access and mental health outcomes. He hopes this project can improve access to mental health care for older adults and improve outcomes while also considering tradeoffs in the Medicare Advantage program.
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To learn more about Mark Meiselbach’s work, visit his personal website or follow him on Twitter, LinkedIn, or BlueSky. His research is regularly published in top economics and health policy journals.