The Mental Health Parity Act begins January 1, 2010. It means big changes for counseling clients and their health insurance. Recently the Orlando Sentinal's Fernando Quintero wrote an informative piece on what changes you can expect from the new law, link is below. The main points of the article include:
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Under the new Mental Health Parity Act, businesses that offer a health insurance plan with mental health coverage must provide equal benefits including deductibles, co-payments, out-of-pocket expenses, inpatient stays and outpatient visits.
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The expense of accessing mental health care, especially the out-of-pocket requirement, has a great bearing on whether individuals will seek care.
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Understand that [potential counseling clients] need to become active participants in their care in order to take advantage of the new law and improve their outcomes. They should know that they can look at lot of different options, whether it's therapeutic care, residential care, home services or another service.
Read whole article here: