After Newtown Shootings, Questions About Mental Health Insurance Coverage [View all]

[ehrnst]

In his speech at the memorial service for the Newtown victims, President Barack Obama included mental health in calling for a national response to the massacre, a conversation that so far has focused on gun control. "I will use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens -- from law enforcement to mental health professionals to parents and educators -- in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this," the president said.

On Monday White House spokesman Jay Carney pointed to the federal health law as evidence that the administration has already started to tackle the issue. Mental health issues are "clearly a factor that needs to be addressed in some of these cases of horrific violence," Carney said. "Obamacare, if you will, has ensured that mental health services are a part of the services" provided under the health law.

Insurance coverage for mental health treatment has long been spotty. More than a quarter of U.S. adults have a diagnosable mental health problem in any given year, but fewer than half receive treatment. While the Affordable Care Act, along with the Mental Health Parity Act of 2008, go a long way toward assuring coverage for most Americans, some gaps persist. There are questions, for example, about just what counts as equivalent treatment under the parity law, and whether it's being fully enforced.

http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2012/December/18/Mental-Health-Insurance-Coverage-Questions-After-Shooting.aspx