Health Insurance & Mental Disorders

According to a report by the Office of the Surgeon General (OSG), traditionally, mental health insurance benefits tend to be more restrictive than those covering physical health. This changed with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA).

Mental Health Parity

• MHPAEA took effect in 2010.The law, reports Harvard Medical School and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has the greatest impact on large group health plans.

Key Provision

• HHS notes that MHPAEA upholds everything contained in The Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 (MHPA), but offers additional parity. It states that a group health plan cannot charge more or limit treatment for mental health and substance abuse benefits relative to medical/surgical benefits.

Effects

• Dr. Richard G. Frank, a professor of health economics at Harvard Medical School, claims the bill benefits severely ill patients the most. Individuals with severe mental illness often face yearly bills in excess of $15,000. In the past they were not covered by insurance, but now, according to Dr. Frank, they are.

Medicare

• MHPAEA also applies to Medicare. Beginning in 2010, Harvard notes that many Medicare mental health co-payments will be reduced until they reach 20 percent in 2014.

Considerations

• Dr. Frank notes that some services the severely mentally ill desperately need--such as job support programs--are still not covered. The bill does not dictate to insurance companies what they must cover. It only requires parity between mental health benefits and medical/surgical benefits that are offered.