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May 28, 2007
Mental Health Parity or Parody?
The senate voted on the latest mental health parity bill, passing it, but only after treatment for addictive disorders was excluded. A former managed care executive, and now psychiatrist jokingly referred to the bill, and it’s similar predecessors as MH “parody” bills. Perhaps it’s due to loopholes such as above, or the fact that there is no provision for excessive utilization review or other commonly used business tactics that put a strangled hold on physician reimbursement.
What kind of message is this sending to the public about the tremendous problem with addictive disorders? Could this be the result of our puritanical heritage, a culture of the individual rather than of societal good?
If the economic burden of depression in this nation is costing us 83 billion annually, imagine the toll of substance abuse and dependence.
Robin Stone, M.D.
Insight Psychiatry
13123 Rosedale Hill Ave.
Huntersville, NC 28078
704-948-3810
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