Measure
Urges Christie to Forego Exemptions that Allow State to Offer Less Coverage for
Mental Health Treatment Than Other Illnesses
(TRENTON) – The full Assembly on
Thursday approved a measure sponsored by Assembly Speaker Sheila Y. Oliver and
Assemblywoman Connie Wagner to help boost access to mental health treatment by
increasing insurance coverage.
The measure (AR-144), approved by a
vote of 48-28-1, is part of the comprehensive Assembly Democratic anti-gun
violence initiative, which is comprised of roughly two dozen bills.
“In order to ensure that people with
mental illnesses have access to the treatment they need, mental health services
must not be treated as the illegitimate step child of the health insurance
world,” said Oliver (D-Essex/Passaic). “Mental health treatment is crucial to
reducing suicide rates, violence and incarceration. This is a crucial component
of any strategy to reduce gun violence. In the long run, the cost of providing
mental health treatment is far less expensive than the socio-economic fall out
of mental illness. It’s also the far more humane approach.”
The legislation urges Governor
Christie to take a leadership role in the public mental health agenda and not
apply for an annual exemption from the requirements of the federal Mental Health
Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008.
“Despite the availability of
effective mental health treatments, the rates for both adults and children that
actually receive the help they need is alarmingly low,” said Wagner
(D-Bergen/Passaic). “Without the proper treatment, certain mental illnesses can
increase the likelihood of violence or suicide. Access to mental health
treatment is crucial for any effective anti-gun violence
initiative.”
The federal Mental Health Parity and
Addiction Equity Act of 2008 requires group health plans and health insurance
issuers to ensure that the financial requirements, such as co-pays and
deductibles, and treatment limitations, such as visit limitations, applicable to
mental health or substance abuse disorder benefits are no more restrictive than
the predominant requirements or limitations applied to substantially all medical
and surgical benefits.
Under current federal law, sponsors
or administrators of self-funded nonfederal governmental group health plans may
apply for plan exemptions from parity in the application of certain treatment
limitations to mental health benefits under the Mental Health Parity and
Addiction Equity Act of 2008.
The Executive Branch has been
applying annually for an exemption from mental health parity since the 1980’s
and 1990’s and from mental health and substance abuse parity since 2008 through
plan design and the State Health Benefits Commission action, and in the current
state fiscal year is exempt from mental health and substance abuse parity as it
applies to visit limits which may reduce the efficacy of
treatment.
The sponsors noted that approximately
50 percent of mental disorders begin before the age of 14; one in five of the
world’s children and adolescents are estimated to have mental disorders or
problems; and one in four adults experience a mental health disorder in a given
year. However, the lawmakers underscored that fewer than one-third of adults
and one-half of children with a diagnosable mental disorder receive mental
health services in a given year despite the availability of effective
treatments.
Approximately one in four state
prisoners, one in five local jail prisoners, and seven out of ten youths in the
juvenile justice system have a recent history of a mental health disorder, while
over 50 percent of students age 14 and older with a mental disorder drop out of
high school, the highest drop out rate of any disability
group.
War and major disaster also have a
large impact on mental health and psychosocial well-being such that rates of
mental disorder tend to double after emergencies and lead to increased risk
factors for communicable and non-communicable diseases, intentional and
unintentional injury, and suicide.
Mental disorders are one of the most
prominent and treatable causes of suicide. In the United States, the annual,
indirect economic cost of mental illness is estimated to be $79 billion, most of
which ($63 billion) reflects the loss of productivity, but the financial
resources needed to treat mental disorders range between $2 to $4 per person,
per year.
A duly authenticated, signed copy of
the measure will now be transmitted to Governor Christie.
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