Addiction and mental-health problems are more prevalent among Medicaid recipients than the general population, but Medicaid patients are less likely to use community-based behavioral-health services, the Asbury Park Press reported July 7.

The study of 126,500 Medicaid beneficiaries -- including 18,000 with co-occurring addiction and mental-health problems -- found that those with co-occurring disorders were more likely to get inpatient, emergency-room and hospital-based care, and less apt to receive community-based care than patients with either an addiction or mental-health disorder. Researchers said the finding is troubling because community-based programs tend to have integrated programs for addiction and mental illness that Medicaid recipients need, whereas hospital-based programs tend to have higher costs and less continuity of treatment.

"Although most intervention policies for co-occurring substance abuse and mental disorders are community-based, a significant number of people with co-occurring disorders never appear in these settings," said study co-author Robin E. Clark of the University of Massachusetts Medical School's Center for Health Policy and Research. The research was conducted by researchers at UMass and Dartmouth Medical School.

The study was published in the July 2007 issue of the journal Psychiatric Services.