WCVB-TV Channel 5, February 20, 2020... Editorial: Mental Health Parity
There have been laws on the books for decades to ensure that mental health treatment is covered on par with coverage for physical ailments. And with good reason. Anyone experiencing a heart attack would never be denied timely access to care. Why should those suffering through a mental health crisis be forced to wait months for an appointment, avoid treatment because of the stigma associated with such an affliction, or go to war over insurance coverage for standard mental health treatment? In practice, however, existing mental health parity laws are meaningless when a provider doesn’t accept insurance *at all.*
Under the leadership of Massachusetts Senate President Karen Spilka, the state Senate last week passed a comprehensive behavioral health care reform law. It is designed to ensure timely access to care, encourage more providers to accept insurance and better integrate the delivery of mental health care services. The issue is personal for the Senate president, who is very candid about her father’s mental illness, forged in service during World War II.
Spilka cites a study that found “more than half of fully-insured adults in Massachusetts who sought mental health care reported difficulty finding services.”
Imagine if that were the case for patients seeking treatment for cancer, high blood pressure or diabetes?
Governor Charlie Baker has also proposed a slate of behavioral health care reforms, several of which overlap with the Senate proposal. Now it is time for the House of Representatives to commit to timely passage of a bill that will remove barriers to care for the Commonwealth’s adults and children.
Massachusetts has been on the cutting edge of countless medical breakthroughs and offers world class medical care. Twenty years later, it is time to follow the laws on the books as intended - removing the obstacles to care for those with mental health needs - and strike parity with those other areas of wellness already accepted as worthy of attention, without stigma and with insurance coverage.
This editorial originally appeared in WCVB-TV Channel 5 on February 20, 2020.
