Mental Health Care Utilization Following Eviction Moratorium Expirations

Was the expiration of state and federal eviction moratoria associated with changes in mental health care utilization?In this synthetic difference-in-differences study of 8 963 310 individuals and all 50 states that used nationwide claims data, moratorium expirations were associated with substantial increases in the number of patients receiving psychotropic medication prescriptions and having outpatient visits for serious mental illness.The study results suggest that lifting eviction protections was associated with heightened psychiatric treatment, particularly for individuals with serious mental illness, indicating that housing policy changes play a critical role in shaping mental health care use.

Corresponding Author: Yimin Ge, PhD, Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 1812 Ashland Ave, Room 383, Baltimore, MD 21205 (yge22@jh.edu).

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