Many people are struggling to understand what type of protection they have against mental conditions.
Health insurance has been a prime news topic over the last while, as the changes to the Affordable Care Act are implemented, but what many people are still struggling to discover is how they are covered against mental illness.
Standard policies will soon provide more protection against that type of condition.
However, while it is truly helpful to have a policy that will provide mental illness coverage, all too many practitioners are not accepting that health insurance, making it difficult to enjoy its benefits. Moreover, even among those who are accepting the coverage, many people struggle to find a practitioner who is local, or who is taking on new patients.
Mental health insurance has drawn more attention in the wake of the series of shootings across the country.
As politicians and other officials speak to the public about the sad condition of mental healthcare in the country at the moment, the subject that remains underneath is the frustrating gaps to mental health insurance coverage. This becomes even more relevant as the statistics about this type of illness are revealed.
According to National Institute of Mental Health data, every year in the United States, 26 percent of all adults experience a diagnosable mental disorder, and 6 percent experience one that is powerful enough that it can be considered to be debilitating. Among teens, 21 percent will experience a severe emotional disturbance at some point between the ages of 13 and 18 years old.
The 2012 survey performed by the Society for Human Resource Management, which involved the participation of 550 different employers of all sizes (including government entities and nonprofits), 85 percent offer their workers mental health insurance coverage on some level. Similarly, a study from 2009 and that was performed by Mercer indicated that 84 percent of employers that have over 500 workers provided both in-network and out-of-network coverage for treatments for mental health and substance abuse.
The growing struggle isn’t obtaining mental health insurance, these days. It appears that this battle is actually shrinking. Now it has to do with determining which treatments are covered, and finding a provider who will accept the coverage.
