While both sides argued vehemently about the cost differential, a PrinceWaterhouseCoopers actuarial analysis determined a nine cent per month difference between these opposing slants. Nationwide, inequities in parity coverage persist. One company health plan may specify that an individual can receive no more than 30 inpatient days in a psychiatric hospital. Others limit the specific number of outpatient visits per year. Companies can decide to raise the copayment required at each visit and can do so unequally.
Companies can also opt out of the law.
A business or industry's first 50 employees need not be covered by the federal law. In state laws, however, coverage may be mandated for firms with more than 25 employees. Meanwhile, the insurance-benefits industry is concerned that the federal and state legislative gyrations, accompanied by continuing premium increases, will cause employers to drop coverage. In one of his last major acts, President Clinton issued an executive order which offered the nation's nine million federal employees improved mental health benefits equal to those for physical ailments. But whether the past parity loopholes remain or will be eliminated for federal employees is uncertain.