Disability benefits for pediatric mental disorders increased consistently with population trends

The percentage of poor children who received federal disability benefits for at least one of 10 major mental disorders increased from 2004 to 2013, consistent with and proportionate to trends in the prevalence of diagnosed mental disorders among children in the United States, according to a report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine formed the Committee to Evaluate the Supplemental Security Income Disability Program for Children with Mental Disorders to review trends from 2004 to 2013 among children who applied for benefits and were enabled to receive payments and those with existing supplemental security income disability benefits.

The committee found that the number of children who received supplemental security income disability benefits increased from 993,127 in 2004 to 1,321,681 in 2013. The percentage of children who received supplemental security income disability benefits increased from 1.35% to 1.8% during this time period.

However, the proportion of all children who received supplemental security income benefits due to the 10 major mental disorders decreased from 54.38% in 2004 to 49.51% in 2013. Thus, growth in supplemental security income for children was not due primarily or disproportionately to mental illness, according to the committee.

Children living in poverty were more likely to have mental health issues, which were more likely to be severe compared with other children, according to the committee.

“When poverty rates increase, more children with mental health disorders become financially eligible for the [supplemental security income] program,” Thomas Boat, MD, committee chair and professor in the department of pediatrics at University of Cincinnati, said in a press release. “Consequently, increases in the number of children applying for and receiving [supplemental security income] benefits for mental disorders are strongly tied to increasing rates of childhood poverty.”

While the number of children from low-income households who applied for and were allowed to receive supplemental security income benefits for mental disorders fluctuated between 2004 and 2013, the annual percentage of children from low-income households who were allowed benefits for mental disorders decreased from 0.32% to 0.27%.

The committee found no increases in the total number of allowances of supplemental security income benefits for pediatric mental disorders or the rate of allowances among poor children from 2004 to 2013. The number of allowances decreased by approximately 10% from 2004 to 2013.

Despite this, the overall number of supplemental security income benefit recipients consistently increased from 2004 to 2013.

Based on these findings, the committee concluded that the likelihood a child’s application for benefits was allowed due to a mental disorder increased from 2004 to 2013, which can be explained by the finding that more children entered a supplemental security income program than left and increases in the length of time a child received benefits. – by Amanda Oldt

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