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Disability Payments for Persons With Severe Mental Illness in Alberta, Canada

Dr. Block was affiliated and Mr. Slomp is affiliated with the Alberta Mental Health Board, Edmonton. Dr. Patten is with the Departments of Community Health Sciences and Psychiatry, University of Calgary, Alberta. Dr. Block is now with the Department of Psychiatry, Dr. Jacobs is with the Institute of Health Economics and the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, and Dr. Ohinmaa is with the School of Public Health, all at the University of Alberta. Dr. Dewa is with the Department of Psychiatry and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, University of Toronto, Ontario. Send correspondence to Dr. Ohinmaa, School of Public Health, University of Alberta, 13-103 Clinical Sciences Building, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2G3 (e-mail: arto.ohinmaa{at}ualberta.ca).

OBJECTIVE: The authors measured the total expenditures for two key sources of social support in Alberta in 2005 for persons with severe and persistent mental illness and compared these expenditures with the total mental health expenditures. METHODS: Social services and assistance benefit data were from the federal government's Canada Pension Plan-Disability Benefits and from Alberta Services' Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped for beneficiaries with psychiatric diagnoses. These benefits were compared with the total public mental health expenditures in Alberta for budget year 2005–2006. RESULTS: A total of 7,456 adults with certified mental illness conditions received federal disability benefits, and 17,138 received provincial disability and medical benefits. The total for social support (income) benefits was $207 million Canadian compared with $405 million Canadian spent by the provincial government for mental health services for adults under age 65. CONCLUSIONS: Social assistance forms a substantial portion of Canadian federal and provincial government support for persons with mental illness. Whenever a government-payer perspective is taken, these costs should be factored into the analysis.

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