As most of you have probably already heard, the economic bailout plan was finally approved & signed by President Bush last week. It will hopefully be the “answer” to many of our economic problems. Before its final approval, though, the previous bailout plan had been completely rejected. When the new version of the bailout was being drafted, various provisions and “added benefits” were included, in an effort to entice House members to approve the new plan. Apparently it worked.

One such provision dealt with mental health insurance, or insurance coverage for mental health services. Currently, patients seeking treatment for mental illnesses face huge restrictions with their health insurance coverage. Many health insurance plans require them to pay greater out-of-pocket costs or higher deductibles. Some insurance plans even limit the number of treatments a patient is allowed for mental health treatment. While support for mental health insurance has increased dramatically over the years, it has been suppressed by the enormous expense it would undoubtedly create.

Fortunately, the first positive steps have now been taken with the approval of the financial bailout plan. As part of the new legislation, group health insurance plans with 51 or more employees are now required to provide the same level of coverage for mental illnesses as they offer for physical illnesses.

Unfortunately, the legislation still does not require health insurance plans to offer mental health coverage. It only mandates that if they do offer it, the coverage must be equivalent to that of their physical illness coverage.

While it may be only a small step towards mental health parity, it’s certainly a large step towards defeating mental health discrimination.

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