Suicide Risk Grew After Missouri Medicaid Kids Shifted To Managed Care, Hospitals Say

Suicide Risk Grew After Missouri Medicaid Kids Shifted To Managed Care, Hospitals Say

Posted on April 1, 2019

Reports that after children diagnosed with mental illness were shifted from traditional Medicaid into three for-profit managed-care companies, the state’s hospitals noticed an alarming trend: the number of children who had thoughts of suicide or attempted suicide doubled. Additionally, the average length of stay for these children in psychiatric hospitals dropped from 10 days to seven following the Medicaid change, according to a study released by the Missouri Hospital Association.