UCC Disabilities Ministries

From BNA (12/18):
Study Sees Need for Out-of-Network Care in Implemention of Mental Health Parity
Proposed legislation on mental health parity could reduce access to mental health care if it does not support the treatment of patients by providers outside of plan networks, according to a study set for Dec. 18 release by the journal Health Affairs.
“Parity proposals that do not require any coverage for out-of-network mental health benefits may paradoxically have the unintended adverse consequence of decreasing access to mental health treatment,” said the study, “Parity And The Use of Out-Of-Network Mental Health Benefits In The FEHB Program.” They
cited in particular their concerns with a Senate-passed proposal on mental health parity (S. 558). The study authors said access to out-of network care for mental health is important, and cited the experience of the federal government workers’ own benefit plan. An analysis of mental health services covered under the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) program and offered in the Washington metropolitan area found that only about one-third of psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers in 2005 participated in the FEHB or in other programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, or private health insurance plan networks.
Further, only 44 percentof FEHB patients received mental health care from in-network clinicians in 2005, the study said.