Group health plans in companies with more than 50 employees are required to set the same maximum dollar payments for all covered diseases, whether they be physical or mental. As proponents of parity are beginning to see, however, there are many loopholes to the new law. Companies can still limit specific types of treatments and interventions. For example, a company's health plan may specify that an individual can receive no more than 30 inpatient days in a psychiatric hospital. They could also limit the specific number of outpatient visits per year.
Companies can increase the co-payment required at each visit, and can also do so unequally.
The parity act also allows for companies to opt out of the law. First, companies with less than 50 employees aren't covered by the law and continue to have no protection or access to equal coverage. Therapists, in turn, are being forced to offer lower-quality, shorter psychotherapy sessions, which results in higher relapse rates and decreased consumer satisfaction with their overall mental healthcare. More and more states, however, are beginning to pass laws which require true equality in their state-regulated health plans. Write or telephone your state representatives today and demand they look into enacting a new state law which guarantees equal coverage.