Monday, February 28, 2005

Mental-health parity: Sort of (Iowa) Des Moines Register editorial - "Iowa is one of the few states with no mental-health parity law requiring insurance companies to provide the same coverage for mental illness as for physical ailments. Mental illness is a real disease needing real treatment. So on the surface it's encouraging to see mental-health parity legislation advancing. However, the details of bills tell a different story. ... Here's what needs to happen: Iowa lawmakers should pass a comprehensive mental-health parity law that includes coverage for substance abuse and eating disorders and extends to as many types of health-insurance plans as possible. About 20 lawmakers, Republicans and Democrats, support Senate File 174, which would require coverage for eating disorders and substance-abuse treatment. That's a step in the right direction..."  
  

Are Utah's mentally ill getting short shrift? Deseret News story - "Advocates say Utah lawmakers lit the fuse on a time bomb and planted it at the doorstep of families, hospital emergency rooms and the correctional system in their refusal so far to fund a $3 million shortfall affecting community mental-health centers. 'I don't know whether to laugh or cry,' said Vicki Cottrell, head of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, Utah. 'I'm just amazed.' Cottrell's reaction comes after the House and Senate released lists of their funding priorities. Each chamber had $2 million to divvy up among various needs, including $1 million in ongoing money and $1 million in one-time funds, for a total of $4 million to satisfy requests not yet approved in a draft of the 2006 fiscal year budget."