Trends: Parity for whom? Exemptions and the extent of state mental health parity legislation

Health Affairs

Volumn 26, Issue 4, 2007, Pages

  Buchmueller, Thomas C ^a   Cooper, Philip F ^b   Jacobson, Mireille ^c   Zuvekas, Samuel H ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN   (United States)

^b AGENCY FOR HEALTHCARE RESEARCH AND QUALITY   (United States)

^c UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ARTICLE; ECONOMICS; EPIDEMIOLOGY; HEALTH CARE COST; HEALTH CARE PLANNING; HEALTH INSURANCE; HUMAN; LEGAL ASPECT; MENTAL HEALTH SERVICE; STATISTICS; UNITED STATES;

HEALTH BENEFIT PLANS, EMPLOYEE; HEALTH CARE SURVEYS; HEALTH EXPENDITURES; HUMANS; INSURANCE, PSYCHIATRIC; MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES; STATE HEALTH PLANS; UNITED STATES;

EID: 34548308690     PISSN: 02782715     EISSN: 02782715     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.26.4.w483     Document Type: Article

References (17)

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3. R.G. Frank, H.H. Goldman, and T.G. McGuire, "Will Parity in Coverage Result in Better Mental Health Care?" New England Journal of Medicine 345, no. 23 (2001): 1701-1704;
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6. U.S. Government Accountability Office, Mental Health Parity Act: Despite New Federal Standards, Mental Health Benefits Remain Limited, Pub. no. GAO/ HEHS-00-95 (Washington: GAO, May 2000).
7. D.P. Gitterman et al., "Does the Sunset of Mental Health Parity Really Matter?" Administration and Policy in Mental Health 28, no. 5 (2001): 353-369;
8. National Conference of State Legislatures, "State Laws Mandating or Regulating Mental Health Benefits," updated January 2007, http://www .ncsl.org/programs/health/mentalben.htm (accessed 14 May 2007);
9. and D.P. Gitterman, "The Politics of Mental Health Parity and U.S. Regulatory Federalism, 1990-2005" (Working paper, University of North Carolina, 2006).
10. We consider only mandates for private-sector employees because the MEPS-IC samples private-sector establishments.
11. An appendix table presents detailed state-by-state estimates of parity coverage and exemptions. This table can be used to construct alternatives estimates of parity coverage. It is available online at http://content. healthaffairs.org/cgi/ content/full/26/4/w483/DC2.
12. We could not observe cost-increase exemptions, but this exemption should be small.
13. Congressional Budget Office, "CBO's Estimate of the Impact on Employers of the Mental Health Parity Amendment in H.R. 3103" (Unpublished estimate, 13 May 1996);
14. and National Advisory Mental Health Council, "Parity in Coverage of Mental Health Services in an Era of Managed Care: An Interim Report to Congress by the National Advisory Mental Health Council" (Washington: National Institute of Mental Health, April 1997).
15. NHMCH, Insurance Parity for Mental Health: Cost, Access, and Quality: Final Report to Congress by the National Advisory Mental Health Council, Pub. no. 00-4787 (Bethesda, Md.: National Institutes of Health, June 2000);
16. and R. Sturm, "How Expensive Is Unlimited Mental Health Care Coverage under Managed Care?" Journal of the American Medical Association 278, no. 18 (1997): 1533-1537.
17. H.H. Goldman et al., "Behavioral Health Insurance Parity for Federal Employees," New England Journal of Medicine 354, no. 13 (2006): 1378-1386.