Monday, May 28, 2018

Mental Health Care -- Far from Equal (Part 2)

4 Helpful Actions Employers Can Take

It's been 10 years since the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act was passed, so it seems like a good time to pause and ask ourselves if access to care is now equal. M
ost insurers have dropped visit limits and separate deductibles and co-insurance for mental health care yet patients are still struggling to get access to treatment. A report from Milliman concluded:
The difference between medical/surgical and
behavioral health use out-of-network by state.
 Source: Milliman - 2017
  • In 2015, behavioral care was four to six times more likely to be provided out-of-network than medical or surgical care.
  • Insurers pay primary care providers 20 percent more for the same types of care as they pay addiction and mental health care specialists, including psychiatrists.
  • State statistics vary widely. In New Jersey, 45 percent of office visits for behavioral health care were out-of-network. In Washington D.C., the figure was 63 percent.6
In part, because reimbursement rates are low, mental health practitioners choose not to participate with insurance networks. Participation also means dealing with all the paperwork and bureaucracy involved in filing insurance claims. Many mental health care providers are solo practitioners and they don't have the administrative support they need to deal with insurance coverage.