The New York Times (9/28, BU1, Abelson, Subscription Publication) reported on continuing battles patients fight to have mental healthcare covered by insurers, a situation the Times says is unlikely to get better until Federal regulators write the rules for parity under the Affordable Care Act. Until then, the effect of the law is “still unclear.” Despite the earlier Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008, which is generally agreed to have “fallen short of its goal,” patients often owe thousands for treatment of serious mental illness. The Times says that’s partly because there’s little agreement or generally accepted standards of care for “how mental illness should be treated – and at what cost.”
Related Links:
— “Lacking Rules, Insurers Balk at Paying for Intensive Psychiatric Care, “Reed Abelson, The New York Times, September 27, 2013.