Mental Illness Services In Health Care Plans

If you're a sufferer or mental illness, you might be concerned about your health insurance and whether or not it covers therapy and treatments. Fortunately, health insurance covers mental health such as psychological, emotional and social well being.

Mental illness can affect your physical health problems, such as drug use or behavioral choices. The 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act states that mental health insurance benefits cannot be more restrictive than the benefits for physical health.

The Affordable Care Act, approved in 2010, states that all health plans sold on insurance marketplaces cover both mental health and substance abuse service such as treatment of disorders, psychotherapy and counseling.

Mental health benefits with insurance generally extend to most plans provided by employers. Studies have shown that only 9% of employer health plans do not extent to mental health treatments.

Insurance companies and job-based health plans must provide short summaries of benefits and coverage. It is also necessary they provide definitions of health insurance terms to help understand coverage. This information should include descriptions of health services or coverage. Contact your insurer to verify that you are covered for mental health policies.

There are some options if you are without insurance coverage of mental illness. There are affordable services found through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Health departments typically have local mental health centers. There are online directories of consumer driven services run by the National Mental Health Consumers' Self-Help Group.

To find these services, it's a matter of being patient and detailed. In case of an emergency, there are crisis cares available through hospitals.

Date Posted: 2017-06-15