posted
I have been trying to find out if the new Mental Health Parity Act changes anything with regard to disability insurance and wondered if any of you know about this.
The Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 states that mental and addictive disorders will now receive the same coverage as other medical issues. Domenici stated "We are ushering in a new era of healthcare for those with mental illnesses. No longer will we allow mental health to be treated as a stepchild in the healthcare system. If you have insurance, then your mental health care must be equal to the benefits you get for any other disease."
This should make a difference with regard to disability insurance. Last year, I lost my appeal for continued coverage with my employer's insurance company. They insisted that my illness was mental and would only give me two years, even though many of my records were from medical doctors. Unfortunately, the two doctors who were there to fill out every form and to fight for me were a psychologist and a psychiatrist (who did pain management). My LLMD wouldn't sign my forms unless I saw him every week for a year - and I had to travel 2 days to see him so that was out of the question. My neurologist wrote a couple of letters, but that wasn't enough.
When I lost the appeal, I didn't take them to court because my lawyer, although he said they made a lot of mistakes in the decision, felt that my file was heavy on the mental health side so he wouldn't continue without a lot of money from me. I dropped it because I'm not going to go into deep debt for something that I will lose.
But I would think that the new parity bill changes things and I am trying to find out what I can. If mental and physical health are considered equal with regard to health insurance, I would think that disability insurance should be handled differently.
My apologies if this has already been addressed. I searched first to see if anyone had posted anything out here, but I didn't find anything.
Thanks for your help.
Posts: 43 | From Grand Rapids, MI | Registered: Aug 2007
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bettyg
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do you know the actual BILL NO. it was? you can always find out more by going to THOMAS site to look into that bill and see the progress.
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