Are all mental health issues included in mental health parity?
No. The law defines “mental health services” as medically necessary inpatient and outpatient services to treat mental disorders. “We say that treatment is medically necessary when the problem isn’t one that will go away on its own and we have a clinical treatment that has been proven to work,” says Greg Simon, MD, a Group Health psychiatrist. “That includes common problems like depression, panic attacks, or attention deficit disorder. It doesn’t include treating normal reactions to life events, or treatment to change someone’s personality style.” Will mental health parity result in higher premiums for members? Mike Quirk, PhD, director of Group Health’s Behavioral Health Services (BHS) Department, expects Group Health’s premiums to increase only slightly. “Premium increases will depend partly on how the health carrier is currently doing at providing mental health services, and Group Health is in good shape,” says Quirk. “We already offer good mental health benefits, and the clinical st
