You’d have to be living at the North Pole to not hear about the financial bailout package that went before the congress late last year. What you may not have heard about is the mental health “parity” bill that was tacked onto the bailout package before it passed. That landmark law requires employers to provide mental health insurance benefits comparable to their medical coverage. This will affect 113 million Americans, providing them with the parity in insurance benefits, making treatment for mental disorders and addiction affordable.
“The new law would bar insurance plans from setting higher co-pays or deductibles for mental health or substance abuse treatment than for medical care,” USA Today reports. “Lower benefit limits also would be illegal, along with caps on the number of outpatient therapy sessions or inpatient treatment days.”
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