While the $700 billion bailout may be getting some economists down, it's also providing parity in health care for mental health. The New York Times gives greater detail, but in essence insurers have for decades set higher co-payments and deductibles and stricter limits on treatment for addiction and mental illnesses.
By wiping away such restrictions, the new law will make it easier for people to obtain treatment for a wide range of conditions, including depression, autism, schizophrenia, eating disorders and alcohol and drug abuse.
The goal of mental health parity once seemed politically unrealistic but gained widespread support for several reasons:
- Researchers have found biological causes and effective treatments for numerous mental illnesses.
- A number of companies now specialize in managing mental health benefits, making the costs to insurers and employers more affordable. The law allows these companies to continue managing benefits.
- Employers have found that productivity tends to increase after workers are treated for mental illnesses and drug or alcohol dependence. Such treatments can reduce the number of lost work days.
- The stigma of mental illness may have faded as people see members of the armed forces returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with serious mental problems.
- Parity has proved workable when tried at the state level and in the health insurance program for federal employees, including members of Congress.
Dr. Steven E. Hyman, a former director of the National Institute of Mental Health, said it was impossible to justify insurance discrimination when an overwhelming body of scientific evidence showed that “mental illnesses represent real diseases of the brain.”
This is good news for advocates for those in need of mental health services and we're very much in support of any measures that allow for better management of health conditions.
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