 (Image: Rep. Keith Ellison under CC 3.0) |
With a standard health insurance plan, many people have noticed a disparity between physical health coverage and mental health coverage. Co-payments for visiting therapists or psychiatrists tend to be higher than those for other specialists, while anti-depressants and other medications can be more expensive than other prescription drugs.
A new federal law effective July 1st has changed all that. The legislation requires that the majority of group health insurance plans that cover mental health have parity in coverage–which means that health insurance companies cannot charge higher deductibles, co-pays, or co-insurance percentages for mental health treatments than they do for other health care.
The downside is that the new guidelines only apply to employer-sponsored health plans from companies with over 50 employees. They also do not encourage employers that don’t already offer mental health coverage to do so.
Tags: group health insurance, health insurance, healthcare, mental health, mental health coverage, mental health insurance
