New Page 1 Special Message from TPA President C.Hal Brunt MD Parity for Mental Illness W e have an opportunity to participate in a growing national interest in fair and equal insurance coverage for mental illness. The issue is one of basic fairness.
Mental disorders are as real as illnesses like heart disease, cancer, or diabetes.
The time has come to be fair and treat mental illness equally in health care. The federal law which takes effective January 1998, makes lifetime and annual dollar limitations to be the same as medical - surgical limitations. Much is missing from the law. This is only a beginning. Three actuarial studies in 1994 by Milliman and Robertson support the affordability of providing non-discriminatory coverage for mental illness.