It costs more out of your pocket to get well from problems of the mind or addiction, right? Insurance companies avoid paying for or charge higher co-pays or cut short programs for treatment, right? That’s the way it used to be, and could be again.
From stage left entered our hero, “Mental Health Parity”. Put simply, this law forces insurance companies to deliver coverage for mental health services on par with physical health coverage. It’s old news because this is a 2008 law, an attempt from our legislative system to take positive action that helps people.
On May 9, 2010 a New York Times headline declared “Fight Erupts Over Rules Issued for ‘Mental Health Parity’ Insurance Law”. Insurance companies are picking holes in the law in order to avoid paying for adequate treatment for problems of the mind. I suppose we can’t blame the insurance companies for trying to keep our premiums in their pockets, but it seems reasonable that they should pay for treatment that works, and what they don’t pay, we pay.
The tragic outcome for some people is that without parity, they won’t get treatment because they can’t afford the co-pays or to go “out of network” to see a specialist who can help them. Not getting treatment can lead to physical problems in addition to their condition of the mind getting worse, or at least not getting better.
These days, most of the people who are recovering from addiction and alcoholism “went to rebab.” Every day, people are overcoming depression, anxiety and mayhem in their lives through therapy and medication. Studies are showing they are less likely candidates for heart disease, obesity, chronic pain and other physical conditions because they’re taking care of their mind. Body, mind spirit, it’s all connected.
In the long haul doesn’t it make sense to treat my anxiety now to avoid paying for my next heart attack?
In this matter, I have two heroes. Representative Patrick Kennedy from Rhode Island and Wendell Potter from Washington DC (I forgive him for that). Kennedy supports Mental Health Parity and making the recent healthcare laws as beneficial for mental health and addiction treatment professionals. Wendell Potter is an advocate with the Center for Media and Democracy. If you’re personally affected by this issue, you can take a tiny bit of action by connecting with either of these fellas.
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