Why Is Oregon Study Important?

Increases in spending on mental health and substance abuse after implementation of Oregon's parity law were almost entirely the result of a general trend toward increasing costs and were not related to parity.

Expenditures per enrollee for mental health and substance abuse services attributable to parity were positive, but they did not differ significantly from zero in any of the four plans that were studied.

Because Oregon's parity law mirrors the federal law's restrictions on the use of nonquantifiable treatment limits by behavioral managed care companies, the analysis may shed light on how the federal law will fare with respect to cost.