Report

Older adults with behavioral health disorders often experience worse health and functional outcomes, have higher rates of emergency department visits, use more medications, and have higher health care costs than those without a behavioral health disorder. There is need for a greater understanding of the extent to which older adults experience behavioral health disorders.

While the likelihood of needing any long-term services and supports (LTSS) is roughly a coin flip, the cost if one needs assistance for a long period of time can be catastrophic. For example, about one-in-five Americans turning age 65 today will have long-term care costs exceeding $200,000.

The 2025-2028 Draft Action Plan for Addressing Shortages of Medical Products and Critical Foods and Strengthening the Resilience of Medical Product and Critical Food Supply Chains (“Draft Action Plan”) presents coordinated and strategic actions that the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS,” or “Department”) plans to take from 2025 through 2028.

The U.S. supply chain for provider-administered outpatient drugs involves several entities, including drug manufacturers, wholesalers, healthcare providers (e.g., outpatient facilities, hospital pharmacies, doctor’s offices, and standalone clinics), group purchasing organizations (GPOs), payers, and beneficiaries.

The National Guidelines for Behavioral Health Crisis Care from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) call for a sustainable infrastructure to respond to behavioral health crises, through crisis services that are accessible to anyone, anywhere, at any time.

This study, commissioned by ASPE, uses multiple data sources to 1) assess trends in pharmaceutical mergers and acquisitions (M&As) over the 2010-2023 period; 2) evaluate characteristics of drugs involved in M&As, and 3) examine the effects of M&As on the pharmaceutical supply chain.

This study explores duties and activities that distinguish the DSP occupation from other direct care workforce occupations to inform the consideration of a DSP SOC code and other workforce data collection efforts. This study also identifies information beyond what is needed to create a DSP SOC code that states need on the DSP workforce to address policy and workforce planning activities.

Between 1988 and 1998, Congress established the Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs). MSPs are Medicaid programs that subsidize the cost of Medicare premiums, deductibles, co-insurance, and other cost sharing for Medicare beneficiaries with low incomes.

The report, "Analysis of Drug Shortages, 2018-2023" provides additional information on the data, methods, and findings. Below are the key findings.KEY POINTS

The U.S. supply chain for prescription drugs is highly complex, involving several intermediaries between drug manufacturers and patients. This analysis estimates the percentages of drug expenditures that are allocated to each stakeholder in the supply chain, including manufacturers.