North Carolina mental health parity law comes into effect

North Carolina health care insurers must provide the same amount of coverage for certain mental conditions as they do for physical ailments under a state law that took effect on Tuesday, the Winston-Salem Journal reports.

The North Carolina General Assembly last year passed the "mental health parity" measure to require that nine common mental health conditions be covered at levels equal to physical conditions. The conditions are bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, paranoid or psychotic disorders, schizoaffective disorder, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder, anorexia nervosa and bulimia. The law does not apply to "self-insured" employers because they are governed by federal law.

Proponents of the law say that it will increase access for mental health treatment and reduce spending over time. Opponents say they are concerned that it will increase the cost of health insurance. Experts on Monday said that the law likely will lead to a minor increase in health insurance rates. In other states that have passed similar laws, mental health parity did not significantly increase costs. Lew Borman, a spokesperson for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, said, "There are costs, obviously, associated with this mandate, but we're anticipating it to be less than half of 1%" (Romoser, Winston-Salem Journal, 7/1).


Kaiser Health NewsThis article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

Comments

The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of News Medical.
Post a new comment
Post

While we only use edited and approved content for Azthena answers, it may on occasions provide incorrect responses. Please confirm any data provided with the related suppliers or authors. We do not provide medical advice, if you search for medical information you must always consult a medical professional before acting on any information provided.

Your questions, but not your email details will be shared with OpenAI and retained for 30 days in accordance with their privacy principles.

Please do not ask questions that use sensitive or confidential information.

Read the full Terms & Conditions.

You might also like...
New app offers relief for parents mourning the loss of a child