Parity and the use of out-of-network mental health benefits in the FEHB program

Health Affairs

Volumn 27, Issue 1, 2008, Pages

  Regier, Darrel A ^a   Bufka, Lynn F ^b   Whitaker, Tracy ^c   Duffy, Farifteh F ^d   Narrow, William E ^d   Rae, Donald S ^d   Reed, Geoffrey M ^e   Rehman, Omar F ^b   Rubio Stipec, Maritza ^d   Weismiller, Toby ^d   Wilk, Joshua E ^f   West, Joyce C ^g  

^a AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION   (United States)

^b AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION   (United States)

^c National Association of Social Workers   (United States)

^d APIRE ^*

^e WHO Projects   (Spain)

^f Walter Reed Army Institute   (United States)

^g APIRE's Practice Research Network

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ADULT; AGED; ARTICLE; ECONOMICS; GOVERNMENT; HEALTH CARE ACCESS; HEALTH CARE MANAGEMENT; HEALTH INSURANCE; HEALTH PROGRAM; HUMAN; LEGAL ASPECT; MANAGED CARE; MENTAL DISEASE; MENTAL HEALTH CARE; MENTAL HEALTH SERVICE; MIDDLE AGED; PARITY; UNITED STATES; UTILIZATION REVIEW;

ADULT; FEDERAL GOVERNMENT; GOVERNMENT AGENCIES; HEALTH BENEFIT PLANS, EMPLOYEE; HUMANS; INSURANCE, PSYCHIATRIC; MANAGED CARE PROGRAMS; MENTAL DISORDERS; MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES; MIDDLE AGED; UNITED STATES;

EID: 38849151650     PISSN: 02782715     EISSN: 02782715     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1377/hlthaff.27.1.w70     Document Type: Article

References (36)

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2. Mental Health Parity Act of 2007, S 558, 110th Cong., 1st sess. (23 July 2007);
3. and Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007, HR 1424, 110th Cong., 1st sess. (23 July 2007).
4. Joint Commission on Mental Illness and Health, Action for Mental Health: Final Report of the Joint Commission on Mental Illness and Health (New York: Basic Books, 1961);
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8. National Advisory Mental Health Council, "Health Care Reform for Americans with Severe Mental Illnesses - Report of the National Advisory Mental Health Council," American Journal of Psychiatry 150, no. 10 (1993): 1447-1465;
9. NAMHC, 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, Appendix to National Institutes of Health Pub. no. 98-4322 (Bethesda, Md.: NIH, 1997);
10. NAMHC, Parity in Financing Mental Health Services: Managed Care Effects on Cost, Access, and Quality - An Interim Report to Congress by the National Advisory Mental Health Council, Pub. no. 98-4322 (Bethesda, Md.: NIH 01998);
11. and NAMHC, 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.: NIH, 2000).
12. R.M. Scheffler et al., "The Political Economy of Mental Health Insurance in the United States,"Report prepared under NIMH Grant no. MH-18828-11, NIH Pub. no. 00-4787, Appendix E in NAMHC, Insurance Parity for Mental Health: Cost, Access, and Quality - Final Report to Congress, 36-45;
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14. and Buchmueller et al., "Parity for Whom?"
15. U.S. Office of Personnel Management, "FEHB Program Carrier Letter: Letter no. 2000-17," 11 April 2000, http://www.opm.gov/carrier/ carrier_letters/2000/2000-17.pdf (accessed 17 September 2007).
16. Foote and Jones, "Consumer-Choice Markets."
17. Regarding number of FEHB enrollees, Greg R. Kissel, Office of the Actuary, OPM, personal communication, 27 August 2007. Regarding extent of FEHB coverage, OPM, "FEHB Program Carrier Letter: Letter no. 2000-17."
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19. and S.T. Azrin et al., "Impact of Full Mental Health and Substance Abuse Parity for Children in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program," Pediatrics 119, no. 2 (2007): e452-e459.
20. Ibid.
21. M.S. Ridgely et al., "Health Plans Respond to Parity: Managing Behavioral Health Care in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program," Milbank Quarterly 84, no. 1 (2006): 201-218.
22. Kissel, personal communication.
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24. S.P. Melek, principal, consulting actuary, Milliman Inc., personal communication, 31 August 2007.
25. NAMHC, Insurance Parity for Mental Health: Cost, Access, and Quality - Final Report to Congress;
26. J. Bowman et al., "Preliminary Analysis of Selected Mental Health Parity Legislative Options," Congressional Budget Office Memorandum, 26 March 2002;
27. and J. Bowman and S. Hagen, "CBO's Estimate of S. 543, The Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2001," Congressional Budget Office Memorandum, 22 May 2002.
28. R.G. Frank et al., "Estimating the Costs of Parity for Mental Health: Methods and Evidence," 2001, http://rwjf.org/files/publications/ other/ParityReport.pdf (accessed 29 November 2007).
29. S.P. Melek, B.S. Pyenson, and K.V. Fitch, "An Actuarial Analysis of the Impact of HR 1424 'The Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007,'" 5 July 2007, http://edworkforce.house .gov/testimony/ 071007SteveMelekTestimony.pdf (accessed 12 June 2007);
30. and CBO, "Cost Estimate: H.R. 1424, Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007, as Ordered by the House Committee on Education and Labor" (Washington: CBO, 7 September 2007).
31. Goldman et al., "Behavioral Health Insurance Parity";
32. and Azrin et al., "Impact of Full Mental Health and Substance Abuse Parity."
33. K. Libertoff, "Fighting for Parity in an Age of Incremental Health Care Reform: Vermont's Successful Campaign for Mental Health and Substance Abuse Parity" (Unpublished paper, Vermont Association for Mental Health, January 1999).
34. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General (Rockville, Md.: National Institute of Mental Health, 1999);
35. and President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health, Achieving the Promise: Transforming Mental Health Care in America, Final Report, April 2002, http://www.mental healthcommission.gov/reports/FinalReport/downloads/ downloads.html (accessed 19 November 2007).
36. Melek et al., "An Actuarial Analysis."