Massachusetts Adds Mental Health Parity to Health Plan; Insurers Complain About Cost
By Susie Madrak Monday Jul 06, 2009 5:15pm
This is exactly why a national single-payer health care plan (or its European equivalent) is needed. We could actually afford to treat everyone's conditions with the massive savings we'd realize if we move from a profit-driven health insurance system.
The Massachusetts plan is struggling because it's nothing more than an insurance co-op - something that keeps paying the middleman:
Tens of thousands of Massachusetts patients who grapple with some of the most intractable mental health problems - eating disorders, addictions, autism, and post-traumatic stress - should face fewer barriers to treatment under a state law that went into effect July 1. But the cost of the state’s latest healthcare expansion remains an open question.
The new law, which lifts limits on care, adds the four mental health disorders to nine other common psychiatric conditions that health insurers must cover as they do physical ailments. That means, for example, that a drug addict who previously would have been denied treatment after 24 outpatient sessions and a total of 60 days in a hospital will now get as much care as medically needed to tame an addiction.
While patient advocates hailed the expansion of mental health assistance, the people who will pay the bills - insurers and companies that provide health coverage to their workers - greeted the law with uncertainty, especially about its cost.
The expansion illustrates two of the most pressing issues in healthcare today: equality for mental health services and the price tag for expanding medical care.
“Any step we take that breaks down this artificial divide that exists between mental illness and physical health is a big step,’’ said Matt Noyes, a mental health advocate at Health Care for All, a Massachusetts consumer group.
Medical spending is under scrutiny from Beacon Hill to Capitol Hill, and the cost of expanding mental health coverage, known as “mental health parity,’’ is a matter of disagreement.
Supporters of the change, citing the experience of other states, said they expect parity will add less than 1 percent to overall healthcare costs, while easing the stigma of mental illness.
Insurers’ overall spending in Massachusetts, estimated at about $13 billion a year, will increase by $13 million to $39 million a year because of the new law, according to regulators’ calculations.
But a coalition of employer and insurance groups contends that the costs are likely to be significantly higher. Insurers said that the state’s calculations substantially underestimate the costs. They have not, however, come up with their own estimates.
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Gettin' sick people treatment... ain't on the insurance companies' agenda.
... then maybe they should just get out of the business.
...the same way, about "our" govt...
they tax us to death, and we still owe trillions!
They should.
Jesus weeps and the bottom line of private insurance companies gets threatened ever so slightly. And we all know that when HMOs can't make a killing from denying care to people (pun intended) is just a step away from anarchy!
it was all part of our agenda. We apologize.
We also apologize for "Queer Eye", "Desperate Housewives", "Sex in the City", making men uncomfortable, Liza Minelli, Log Cabin republicans, speedos and thongs, spiked heels, women's fashions, people who dress up their pets, film critics, global warming, and well, feel free to add anything, cause it IS our fault.
;)
to get all mariiaged and stuff. I don't think it is coincidence! ;-)
i hope that is not what it will take , if that is what it takes then so be it .
No one that i know is optimistic these days ( or nights ) what interesting times we live in , if those in power had to see the faces of the poor , or worse the children of war , the innocents that will die , and had to call them their own , things would be different .
Perhaps some day all of the glass houses will be shattered .
means the people of the U.S. will never stand up for themselves.
Healthcare is a basic need. To live in one of the 'supposed' most civilized & wealthiest countries in the world and put up with the absurd system that you do, is totally beyond my understanding...at least doing so without a huge fight.
It's all about the corporations, in this case the insurance companies...they only care about making money. The politicians all have their own gov't. healthcare, so they don't care about you either.
It's entirely up to you, the people, to educate & inform yourselves...and then to demand with whatever legal means you have, to have a system that is there for 'you'.
Time to leave the couch & the TV and use your own brain power, instead of listening to all those over-paid talking heads who want you to think they have any interest in your interests.
...THEN GET THE F**K OUT OF THE HEALTH INSURANCE BUSINESS!
The corporate fascists have so totally f**ked over every other aspect of our economy, that one of the last gravy trains they have left right now is healthcare.
The are gonna go nuclear (billion dollar bribes) if they have too.
If any congressman accepts the bribes, HANG THEM HIGH!
(I mean of course, after a court of their peers judges them to be found guilty of treason to the american people.) ;P
Well said.
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It's a good thing everyone has their employer-based health care to fall back on, or at least that's what the President says is the reason we can't even consider single-payer here. What a crock of succotash!
Who the heck has a secure job? If you can make someone lose their job twice in one year you effectively negate their health insurance. (If its a 3-6 month wait to get benefits)
I have PTSD. Insurance will typically partially cover a few visits to a therapist, but to really deal with this kind of thing can take years. Years of once or even twice a week visits. No way insurance wants to cover that.
That's part of why so many mental health issues just have a pill thrown at them... the pills for most people are at best merely a stabilizer to help them to be in a place for therapy to be possible - they aren't the therapy. But that's how they are treated, because it's cheaper and takes less commitment.
The ONLY "insurance" I've seen that deals well with the long term treatment things like PTSD really need is government-provided programs, because its the only plan that will tolerate someone needing continual treatment weekly for years - not a pill but in-person treatment.
You've got it right - what psychotropic meds do is suppress symptoms (often with severe side effects), not cure the condition. A lucky few can stumble on their own during that window of opportunity into the behavioral and cognitive changes they need in order to address the root problems, but most need guidance from a trained therapist, definitely.
The ironic thing is, meds aren't cheaper in the long-run on average because you may need to be on them for years (or life) to suppress the effects of a condition that psychotherapy can teach you to manage on your own without a chemical crutch (even if it takes a relatively long time).
Meds aren't the treatment of first resort for mental disorders because they're so darned effective, but primarily because the pharmaceutical industry is so pervasive and powerful. They make money by hooking people for life to their products - developing actual cures would be bad for business.
Med your family! The American Zombie Homegame!
and while problems with our insurance and getting treatment wasn't the reason, it was the last nail in the coffin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2s-OQuvGCuI
The brain is part of the body.
No other organ in the body is assumed to be perfect every time - flawless and immune to all illness or disease.
Without Mental Health parity - you are not fully insured.
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Everyone agrees that the common cold, for instance, is a disease - a pathological bodily syndrome caused in this case by an infiltrating microorganism. Other bodily syndromes may have internal (e.g., genetic) causes, but everyone still thinks of the "disease" as separate from the person.
One reason mental illnesses often don't have parity is because not everyone agrees they should be treated as diseases. Many argue that they're due to a lapse in morality, or a lack of willpower, or because a person is just "weak."
Usually no one thinks it's your fault if you catch a disease, but many will blame you for your own troubles if you develop a mental illness. And as such they don't want to pay for your treatment.
I'll be the first to admit that from a scientific standpoint some mental disorders truly don't fit the traditional "disease" model the way medicine thinks about it, while others do. But we as a culture need to get rid of the "blame the victim" mentality across the board if we're ever going to have a humane and effective healthcare system.
It is increasingly clear that Obama is not on the side of the American people in the health care debate.
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help me out. i thought he was for reforming healthCare. what did i miss. are you speaking of possible compromises he may need to make?
He's already made the worst compromise of all - no single-payer option. Now the White House has indicated that Obama is open to compromise on the already infinitely inferior public option.
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If there is no single payer, government tax based healthcare then he is our enemy. Period.
Get rid of f_ing' health insurance all together. If a persons a millionaire they can pay cash.
If a persons middle class let them pay on affordable installments.
If a person can't pay treat em and work out a easy payment plan they can afford.
Sheesh already
There is no insurance, just COVERAGE. You don't pay anything, you just go to the doctor.
My opinion is, if the PRIVATE INSURANCE companies want to BE ALLOWED TO EXIST, they need to be FORCED to become NOT FOR PROFIT.
There is NO PLACE FOR PROFIT in the arena of health.
BY BRUCE GOLDMAN
Schizophrenia linked for first time to chromosome region in study led by Stanford scientists
Snip - A DNA base pair is effectively the genome’s smallest possible accounting unit — the penny, as it were, of genetic variation. As a simplified analogy, think of your genetic inheritance as a stack of 3 billion pennies, with each coin bearing one of four mint marks.
[ http://med.stanford.edu/news_releases/2009/ju... ]
Just think how much better off our country would be if we could sedate Coulter, Beck, Hannity and the rest of the Hitler movement.
Start passing out those mental health meds.
And just give Rush a pig trough filled with oxycotin, so that he would never get out of bed.
[ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8UPXGun5zI ](6:07)
That crazy woman looks just like Sarah Palin fat with short hair....
O.....M.....G....
I remember this - it's from a reality show that traded moms - or something like that.
This woman is completely insane. The worst part? She's ruining the lives of the other people she has permanent access to - her family. They are going to be just as screwed up as she is.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEhwQ7rLZaA
There was some bad Karma floating around that old battle ax after that show appearance also.
http://realityrollcall.wordpress.com/2007/09/...
the entire issue of "pro-life" or "pro-choice" would be thrown right out of the window for once and for all IF.....IF....we had "Single Payer" health care for ALL AMERICANS!
Why?
Because "an ounce of PREVENTION is worth an ounce of CURE."
If everyone was covered under a "standardized" system, then all women from puberty until death would have full reproductive health care. That would include teaching videos about their bodies, about sex education, about reproductive education, birth control, what STD's are and HOW TO AVOID THEM and how to avoid UNWANTED PREGNANCIES.
I believe that in an age of SINGLE PAYER HEALTH CARE, "abortion" would become a rare procedure, as ALL the women of the United States would FINALLY be covered for routine gynecological examinations and ALL American women (young and old) would have access to the best preventive STD/birth control measures our tax dollars could buy.
I say mental health/addictions should be covered. Dental should be covered. Eye care should be covered. Ob/Gyn should be covered. Long term care should be covered.
Cradle to grave health care coverage should be covered for ALL Americans through the taxes we now pay.
SCREW THE PENTAGON!!!!!
This is how we can pay for the best health care system in the world!
Abbybwood, R.N.
just asking did you mean to say an once of prevention is worth a " pound " of cure ? , must of been a typo .
My little sis is " the charge nurse " at a childrens hospital , she deals every day with aids , crack , herion , alchol , deformed in more ways than i ever want to see babies , mostly she deals with prematures and death , she is so much stronger than i .
Dont know how much more of this bs can go on till something breaks ,
or should i say till we learn how to fix the broken .
Who pays for the lack of healthcare we get today?
Everybody is. We pay in cost-shifting, bankruptcy costs, and lastly, when businesses add their employee health costs to their product price and we reimburse them at the cash register.
In the process we make our businesses highly uncompetitive with foreign products, which often forces employers to build their products in countries that do not burden them with health care. We make more cars in Canada than in Michigan because their health care costs are $800 per employee per year and ours is $6500. That adds $1,500 per car.
Read this article...
http://www.biztimes.com/blogs/milwaukee-biz-b...
pad up their investments if insurance companies aren't turning record profits?
Without Free Health care for every person in America - we will never experience an economic recovery.
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the old and sick will die , its on you kids
I try my best
to be just like iam
everyone wants me
to be just like them
they say sing while you save
but i just get bored .
ah aint gonna work on maggys
farm to more .
This is a great step forward for Mass. residents -- the state has some of the best health care services and also one of the highest rates of addiction in the country
Keep it up. Single payer is the ONLY viable answer. Anything less is disaster waiting in the wings.
Do not let up. Keep beating on Amato. Use this vehicle (C&L) to push for Single payer and nothing less. No more party ass kissing.
Public pressure can make this happen, but we need your voice louder and louder.
Without Free Health care for every person in America - we will never experience an economic recovery.
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That is simply a lie.
Number one, there is no such thing as free health care. Number two, every economic recession is followed by an economic expansion. Thus it is 100% that there will be an economic recovery. The only question is when. This is a depression era, thus it will be a longer period of time before things return to what is considered normal.
From
http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/patients/arti...
"Overall, health-care companies and their representatives spent more than $126 million on lobbying in the first quarter, leading all other industries, according to CRP and Senate data. PhRMA led the pack in spending and employs 49 former government staff members among its 136 lobbyists, according to The Post's analysis. Dozens of other former insiders are employed as lobbyists by Pfizer, Eli Lilly, the AMA and the American Hospital Association, each of which spent at least $3.5 million on lobbying from January through March.
The aim of the lobbying blitz is simple: to minimize the damage to insurers, hospitals and other major sectors while maximizing the potential of up to 46 million uninsured Americans as new customers. Although many firms have vowed to help cut costs, major players such as PhRMA, America's Health Insurance Plans and others remain opposed to the public-insurance option, a key proposal that President Obama has endorsed."
Check out this illustration:
The Max Baucus Healthcare Lobbyists Complex
http://assets.sunlightfoundation.com/images/b...
GET RID OF THE INSURANCE COMPANIES!!! THEY NEVER WORK AND ARE AN ADDED EXPENSE THERE TO STEAL MONEY!
This is a key issue for American workers right now. Additionally, encouraging a workplace health program is a great way to lower overall health care costs and to improve employee health. Companies of all sizes can incorporate wellness and prevention into the workplace. Find out how and sign a petition at http://www.friendsoftheuschamber.com/issues/i...
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