Trends in Psychiatrist-Led Care for Medicare Part B Enrollees

Abstract

Importance: The rising incidence of mental illness in the US underscores the need for timely access to psychiatric care, especially for vulnerable populations such as older adults and individuals with mental and physical disabilities who receive Medicare. Objective: To assess changes in the number and proportion of active psychiatrists providing professional services to traditional Medicare Part B enrollees from 2014 to 2022. Design, Setting, and Participants: This repeated cross-sectional study of Medicare Part B enrollees used publicly available data (for January 1, 2014, through December 31, 2022) from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Kaiser Family Foundation. Data from all traditional Medicare Part B enrollees in all 50 states and the District of Columbia were analyzed. Main Outcomes and Measures: Primary outcomes included changes in (1) the proportion of active psychiatrists billing traditional Medicare and (2) the number of psychiatrists providing care relative to the number of Medicare Part B enrollees nationally, regionally, and by state. Results: The study population comprised 291748472 Medicare Part B enrollee-years (33042936 in 2014: 5800903 [17.6%] eligible due to disability alone and 27242030 [82.4%] eligible due to age). From 2014 to 2022, the number of Medicare Part B enrollees decreased by 3497942 enrollee-years (10.6%), while the number of psychiatrists submitting more than 10 claims to Medicare Part B decreased by 3772 (16.8%). The nationwide proportion of professionally active psychiatrists submitting claims to Medicare Part B for professional services during this period declined from 22409 of 50416 (44.4%) in 2014 to 18637 of 56492 (33.0%) in 2022 (P