Another Try at Mental Heath Parity

Insurance companies have discriminated against their mentally ill
customers for years.  Sadly, they have done so with t he
comlicity of the Federal government.  



There have been many attempts to change this, but the attempts
generally are made by constituents who have little power, and meet with little success.



Another attempt is underway.   href="http://snowe.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=87f720da-802a-23ad-4cb7-acdae2631a38&Region_id=&Issue_id=">Kerry
and Snowe have introduced a bill, href="http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-1715">S.
1715, that would set the copayments for outpatient
psychiatric services at the same level as those for other medical
services.  



From href="http://snowe.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressRoom.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=87f720da-802a-23ad-4cb7-acdae2631a38&Region_id=&Issue_id=">Olympia
Snowe's href="http://www.govtrack.us/congress/record.xpd?id=110-s20070627-44&bill=s110-1715#sMonofilemx003Ammx002Fmmx002Fmmx002Fmhomemx002Fmgovtrackmx002Fmdatamx002Fmusmx002Fm110mx002Fmcrmx002Fms20070627-44.xmlElementm7m0m0m">floor
speech:

The
good news is that, today, there are increasingly effective treatments
for mental illness. The majority of people with mental disorders who
receive proper treatment can lead productive lives.



Yet Medicare pays far less for critical mental health services needed
by these beneficiaries than it does for medical treatment for physical
disabilities. Medicare beneficiaries typically pay 20 percent
of the cost of covered outpatient services, including
doctor's visits, and Medicare pays the remaining 80 percent. However,
this does not apply to outpatient mental health services; here Medicare
law imposes a special limitation, which requires patients to pay a much
higher copayment of 50 percent. [Emphasis added]

These days it is hard to argue for anything that might
increase Medicare expenditures.  But there are two things to
consider here.  One is the general desirability of fairness.
 The second is that href="http://www.psych.org/psych_pract/offset.cfm">proper
mental health care generally leads to lower medical care expenses,
thus offsetting part of the cost.