Health

Axios - Spending on behavioral health for kids almost doubled in a decade, reaching 40% of all child medical expenditures in 2022, according to a new study.

The findings help quantify growing concern about youth mental health, and highlight the financial hardship the issue has for many families.

The study from Northwestern University researchers finds behavioral health spending rose from 22% of all child medical expenditures in 2011 to 40%, or $42 billion, in 2022. The study was published in JAMA Pediatrics.

• Of that amount, families paid $2.9 billion out of pocket. And out-of-pocket spending rose 6.4% annually for child behavioral health, much faster than the rate for other forms of health care...

• "Our findings underscore the critical need for adequate networks and improved insurance coverage to reduce the financial burden on families," Jennifer Hoffmann, an assistant professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said in a statement.A