 Image: Beautiful Insanity Photography under CC 3.0 |
Despite new federal regulations meant to prevent it, an increasing number of employers are limiting their mental health benefits in order to save money on their group health insurance. Mental health coverage has seen its costs increase by over 20% from last year.
How do they get away with this? Insurers are accused of forcing therapists to undergo long, detailed interrogations about their patients, to determine if they need further treatment. Therapists believe that the procedure is an unfair burden on them, and that doctors aren’t held to the same standards.
The dangers of this practice are several: it costs therapists in time and money, which is then passed onto their patients and their health insurance companies through higher co-payments. It often results in patients cutting their treatment short, which may result in them needing more extensive treatment or hospitalization in the future.
