Mental Health Parity Achieved
The recent financial bailout bill passed by Congress has done a favor for the mental health care of Americans. After 12 years Congress passed a bill that had long been advocated by Senator Pete Domenici of
At its simplest this bill provides that as the New York Times reported fully one third of all Americans will receive better insurance coverage for mental health treatment; this law requires that there be equal coverage for both mental and physical illness. For those who suffer from mental illness of many kinds and from many addiction disorders there will be more support for treatment for these conditions.
Up to now there were many employers as well as health plans that did not pay at the same rate for mental health care as they did for the treatment for conditions such as cancer, broken bones, heart problems, or other medical issues. There were in place for many years higher co pays and steeper deductibles for mental health care as well as more strict limits on both inpatient and outpatient treatment for mental illness and addictions.
Increasingly it has been found that many mental illnesses can have a biological basis or be a contributing factor. Mental Health is managed by companies with this as their specialty. It is also true that employers report greater productivity in the work place for those who have been treated for mental health and addiction issues. Parity has worked in many states and also in the federal employees health program; this is the program that covers members of Congress. Perhaps, most importantly, as many members of the
Part of the bill that was passed calls for better management of mental health care; at the same time treatment decisions are supposed to be able to be reviewed more easily and criteria for decisions can be appealed. There will no longer be completely arbitrary decisions in these important healthcare decisions
The new law will be in place by 2010. In the meantime this bills passage will hopefully continue the process of lessening the stigma of mental health treatment and even now encourage more people to take advantage of this important piece of heath care.
Dr. Paul Melrose is Executive Director of the Samaritan Counseling Center of SE Michigan. He can be reached at www.paulmelrose.com or www.samaritancounselingmichigan.com., or through 248-474-4701. The staff of the Center may be reached through www.samaritancounselingmichigan.com or 248-474-4701.