Improving Mental Health and Addressing Mental Illness: Mental Health Benefits Legislation
Health insurance benefits for mental health services have been typically less than benefits for physical health services (American Psychological Association 2010), resulting in potential financial burden for people with mental health conditions (Zuvekas, Banthin, Selden 1998). Mental health benefits legislation involves changing regulations for mental health insurance coverage to improve financial protection (i.e., decrease financial burden) and to increase access to, and use of, mental health services. Such legislation can be enacted at the federal or state level.
Moving toward parity for mental health coverage is a key element of most mental health benefits legislation. Defined as having no greater restrictions for mental health coverage than physical health coverage (Employee Benefits Security Administration, 2010), parity can be considered on a continuum ranging from limited to comprehensive. The latter requires coverage for a broad range of mental health and substance abuse disorders that places no greater restrictions on benefits (e.g., visit limits, treatment limits, annual dollar limits or deductibles) for mental health services than benefits for physical health services.
Two federal initiatives have increased mental health parity, the 1996 Mental Health Parity Act (Solis, 2012) and the more comprehensive 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (Employee Benefits Security Administration, 2010). In addition, forty-nine states and the District of Columbia (Cauchi, Landess & Thangasamy, 2011) have enacted some type of mandate legislation.
Summary of Task Force Recommendations & Findings
The Community Preventive Services Task Force recommends mental health benefits legislation, particularly comprehensive parity legislation, based on sufficient evidence of effectiveness in improving financial protection and increasing appropriate utilization of mental health services for people with mental health conditions. There is also evidence that mental health benefits legislation is associated with increased access to care, increased diagnosis of mental health conditions, reduced prevalence of poor mental health and reduced suicide rates.
Evidence from a concurrent economic review indicated that mental health benefits expansion did not lead to any substantial increase in cost to health insurance plans, measured as a percentage of premiums.
Task Force Finding & Rationale Statement
The Task Force finding presented on this page was made in August 2012. It was based on a systematic review of all available studies conducted on behalf of the Task Force by a team of specialists in systematic review methods, and in research, practice and policy related to mental health and mental illness.
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Publications
The findings and results of this systematic review have not been published. Read other Community Guide publications about Mental Health and Mental Illness in our library.
References
American Psychological Association. Mental health insurance under the federal parity law. 2010. http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/federal-parity-law.aspx 
Cauchi R, Landess S, Thangasamy A. State laws mandating or regulating mental health benefits. 2011. National Conference of State Legislatures. http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/health/mental-health-benefits-state-laws-mandating-or-re.aspx
Employee Benefits Security Administration. Fact Sheet: The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA). United States Department of Labor. 2010. http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/newsroom/fsmhpaea.html
Solis. 2012 Report to Congress: Compliance with the mental health parity and addiction equity act of 2008. Unites States Department of Labor. 2010.
http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/publications/mhpaeareporttocongress2012.html
Zuvekas SH, Banthin JS, Selden TM. Mental health parity: What are the gaps in coverage? J Ment Health Policy Econ 1998;1:135–146.
Disclaimer
The findings and conclusions on this page are those of the Community Preventive Services Task Force and do not necessarily represent those of CDC.
Sample Citation
The content of publications of the Guide to Community Preventive Services is in the public domain. Citation as to source, however, is appreciated. Sample citation: Guide to Community Preventive Services. Improving mental health and addressing mental illness: mental health benefits legislation. www.thecommunityguide.org/mentalhealth/benefitslegis.html. Last updated: MM/DD/YYYY.
Review Completed: August 2012
- Page last reviewed: September 6, 2012
- Page last updated: September 6, 2012
- Content source: The Guide to Community Preventive Services
