Major Conclusions of NAMHC Report

A new report by the National Advisory Mental Health Council (NAMHC) concludes that mental health parity under managed care is affordable, and that in every case where parity is introduced, managed care follows.

These are among the report's conclusions:

• In systems already using managed care, implementing parity raises total health care costs by less than 1 percent over one year.



• Introducing managed parity in systems not using managed care leads to a 30 percent to 50 percent reduction in total mental health costs over one year.



• Prior assumptions based on the costs of parity without managed care do not reflect the reality that in every case in which parity has been implemented, management has followed. This suggests that implementing parity nationwide may accelerate the trend toward increased management of mental health services.
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• Parity under managed care does not ensure access, which is highly variable across different managed behavioral health plans both before and after parity is introduced. Quality varies widely across managed behavioral health plans.



• In some cases in which managed care has led to limited access to mental health services, decreased productivity, increased absenteeism, and greater use of medical services have been observed.



• There is "some evidence" that managed care is compatible with access and quality, but further research is needed.



• In Medicaid-funded child mental health services, introducing managed care cuts costs and also shifts treatment from inpatient to outpatient settings.

The report, "Parity in Financing Mental Health Services: Managed Care Effects on Cost, Access, and Quality," is available on the Web at www.nimh.nih.gov/research/prtyrpt/index.html.