Healthcare Concerning Mental Illness

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Healthcare Concerning Mental Illness As of now, there is no general consensus that would require states to cover mental health (Cauchi, Landess, & Thangasamy 2011). Out of the 49 states that do cover mental illness, there are three main categories that vary considerably; mental health “parity” or equal coverage laws, minimum mandated mental health benefit laws, and mental health “mandated offering laws.” Mental illness is as serious a condition as any other health condition. It should be covered as such. Mental health parity has come a long way over the years. With health care reform underway, this issue is bound to come up. Hopefully the reform can enact a program that will lead to more mental health parity. Mental health parity means the recognition that mental health conditions are equivalent to physical illnesses (Barry, Huskamp, & Goldman 2010). Historically most health insurance companies offered substantially limited benefits to individuals with mental illness when compared to individuals with physical conditions (it can be stated that mental illnesses are physical conditions caused by damage or imbalances in the brain, but for purposes of simplicity there will be a line drawn between mental and physical conditions). As a consequence of this limited coverage, many people chose not to seek treatment. Even when individuals chose to seek treatment, there was only coverage for brief therapy sessions. Private insurance policies did not even include mental health coverage until after WWII (Barry, 2006). To them there was not a lot of financial incentive, because services were already paid through the public sector. More and more psychiatric care units started showing up in hospitals. This was aided by third party payment (priv... ... middle of paper ... .../Content/ContentGroups/E News/1996/The_Mental_Health_Parity_Act_of_1996.htm New York State Archives. (2010, February 9). Overview of mental health in new york and the nation. New York State Archives. Retrieved November 19, 2011, http://www.archives.nysed.gov/a/research/res_topics_health_mh_timeline.shtml Office of the Legislative Counsel. (2010, May 1). Compilation of patient protection and affordable care act. Legislative counsel. 1-111. Print. U.S. Department of health & Human Services, (2010, Janurary 29). Obama Administration Issues Rules Requiring Parity in Treatment of Mental, Substance Use Disorders. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Retrieved November 21, 2011, http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2010pres/01/20100129a.html Weiss, G. L., & Lonnquist, L. E. (2012). The sociology of health, healing, and illness. Boston: Prentice Hall.

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