New York is one of four states with mental health parity legislation pending, according to a recent analysis in Community Voices' learning series publication, Mental Health Parity: State of the States.  If the measure passes, it would require insurers to provide equitable coverage of mental, nervous, or emotional disorders.  In addition, New York would join 23 states that have already enacted mental health parity laws, nine of which include substance abuse treatment.  Prepared by the Center for Policy Alternatives, Mental Health Parity outlines insurance practices pertaining to mental health in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Overall, 46 states and the District of Columbia have enacted legislation addressing mental health coverage in some manner.  The Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 prohibits setting lifetime or annual benefit limits lower than those set for physical illness.  However, the Act does not require insurers to offer mental health coverage, does not include drug or alcohol treatment, and does not apply to employers with 50 or fewer employees.

According to the American Psychological Association, more than 50 million adults-22 percent of the U.S. adult population-suffer from mental illness or substance abuse disorders each year.  Unfortunately, U.S. health insurance practices, as well as stigma associated with mental illness, prevent individuals from seeking the help they need.  In his report, Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General, Dr. David Satcher notes, "Powerful and pervasive, stigma prevents people from acknowledging their own mental health problems, much less disclosing them to others."

Thirteen sites make up the multi-year Community Voices national initiative supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.  The 13 communities involved in Community Voices are: Alameda County/Oakland, Calif.; Albuquerque, N.M.; Ingham County/Lansing, Mich.; Baltimore, Md.; California Native Americans (29 tribes); Denver, Colo.; Detroit, Mich.; El Paso, Texas; Miami, Fla.; North Carolina; Northern Manhattan, N.Y.; Washington, DC; and West Virginia.

To obtain your free copy of Mental Health Parity: State of the States, call 1-800-819-9997 and request item # 486.  Community Voices will release a more comprehensive mental health publication in early 2001.