A new report paints a grim picture of compliance with laws mandating parity in health coverage for physical and behavioral health conditions — increasingly a focus as health officials turn their attention to insurers’ role both in perpetuating and solving the nation’s drug addiction crisis.
The report, published by the consulting firm Milliman and commissioned by the Bowman Family Foundation, highlights coverage gaps and significantly lower reimbursement rates stemming from the non-enforcement of decades-old laws meant to ensure those with mental and behavioral health needs — an umbrella term that includes treatment for substance use disorders — have equal access to care.
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Long gone are the days when you could languish for seven weeks in a nut bin, read the Sunday New York Times ( if could after your electroshock treatments), then miraculously “recover” the day your insurance ran out. Hard to see the hardship. The most profitable industry in South Florida are sober houses, which suck up insurance company to maintain those nice grounds. The other shortfall is that gone is the concept of a continuum of coverage. For the addict that meant one week in detox, 30 days in rehab, then three months in an IOP. Now they street you after 5 days in detox with an AA meeting book and a compass.