Majority of Americans Support MH Parity

A national survey commissioned by the Mental Health America (NMHA) shows that 93 percent of Americans believe in parity for mental health benefits in insurance coverage.

Yet, "96 percent of insurance plans provide inferior coverage for mental illnesses compared to other illnesses, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is unfair and unjust," said NMHA President and CEO Michael Faenza at the annual Clifford Beers conference in Washington, D.C., in June.

The Mental Health America, founded in 1909, now has more than 300 affiliates representing about two million people.

The survey, which was conducted by Opinion Research Corporation International, consisted of random telephone interviews with more than 1,000 adults nationwide. The results were released at the June conference.

• Sixty-one percent of respondents strongly agreed and 32 percent agreed that health care insurance should provide the same coverage for mental health problems as it does for physical health problems.



• Support for parity does not vary by age, income, region, or race.



• Women are more likely than men to believe a family member may need mental health care (49 percent compared with 39 percent).



• Support for parity is not dependent on an individual’s anticipated mental health treatment. While 61 percent of respondents strongly supported parity, only 28 percent had a strong expectation of a family member’s need for mental health treatments.



• Support for mental health parity may relate to an individual’s awareness of insurance discrimination against the mentally ill. Sixty-one percent of respondents (the same percentage supporting parity) were somewhat aware of the limits of their health insurance coverage for mental health treatments.



• Thirty percent of respondents did not know the extent to which their insurance would cover mental health treatments.

"Popular support for mental health parity has grown and continues to grow," Faenza said. "Virtually all Americans know that mental illnesses cause real pain and suffering and deserve to be treated just like physical pain and suffering."

Moreover, "a recent study by the National Institute of Mental Health concluded that mental health parity is not only fair, it is affordable," Faenza said. "States with parity laws have had negligible cost increases, if any."

Thirteen states - Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Texas, and Vermont - have adopted parity bills.

The majority of other state legislatures are considering parity bills, according to APA’s Division of Government Relations.