Congress Passes Mental Health Parity Act

Hello Ladies.  I've been in Chicago for several days doing some marketing work to help pay the bills, which can sometimes put a real dent in the time I have for blogging. But never fear, you can't keep me away for long ... 

So last week, in the midst of all the economic craziness and the passage of a 700 BO-ZILLION dollar bailout package you may have missed that the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity Act of 2008 passed.  Yes, it was inserted into the bailout package.  Strange, although ironically it may make perfect sense since the ups and downs of the market are sending a lot of peope into anxiety and depression, according to USA Today.

Anyway, beggars can't be choosers, so I'm glad it happened.  As Dr. John Grohol reported over at Psych Central:

This Act (which we reported on earlier), a compromise that’s been years in the making, mandates that all employers with more than 50 employees offer mental health coverage that’s comparable to their physical health benefits. With Senate approval on Wednesday, the bill becomes law upon President Bush’s signature.

This means that for 110 million Americans, their health insurance will now be required to offer benefits and coverage of their mental health concerns at a level equal to that of physical concerns. Insurance companies will no longer be legally allowed to limit outpatient visits for psychotherapy (unless they do so already for other doctor’s visits).

Here is a very good article on the bill from the New York Times.

Questions I have:

• Can employers just eliminate mental health coverage altogether now in order to avoid the extra cost?
• When will this take effect? 
• What process should women follow if their mental health coverage is limited or denied?

I will try to get you some answers.