Effects of Mental Health Benefits Legislation

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Am J Prev Med
• Personal Author:
  Sipe, Theresa Ann ; Finnie, Ramona K.C. ; Knopf, John A. ; Qu, Shuli ; Reynolds, Jeffrey A. ; Thota, Anilkrishna B. ; Hahn, Robert A. ; Goetzel, Ron Z. ; Hennessy, Kevin D. ; McKnight-Eily, Lela R. ; Chapman, Daniel P. ; Anderson, Clinton W. ; Azrin, Susan ; Abraido-Lanza, Ana F. ; Gelenberg, Alan J. ; Vernon-Smiley, Mary E. ; Nease, Donald E.
• Corporate Authors:
  The Community Preventive Services Task Force
• Description:
  Context
  
  Health insurance benefits for mental health services typically have paid less than benefits for physical health services, resulting in potential underutilization or financial burden for people with mental health conditions. Mental health benefits legislation was introduced to improve financial protection (i.e., decrease financial burden) and to increase access to, and use of, mental health services. This systematic review was conducted to determine the effectiveness of mental health benefits legislation, including executive orders, in improving mental health.
  
  Evidence acquisition
  
  Methods developed for the Guide to Community Preventive Services were used to identify, evaluate, and analyze available evidence. The evidence included studies published or reported from 1965 to March 2011 with at least one of the following outcomes: access to care, financial protection, appropriate utilization, quality of care, diagnosis of mental illness, morbidity and mortality, and quality of life. Analyses were conducted in 2012.
  
  Evidence synthesis
  
  Thirty eligible studies were identified in 37 papers. Implementation of mental health benefits legislation was associated with financial protection (decreased out-of-pocket costs) and appropriate utilization of services. Among studies examining the impact of legislation strength, most found larger positive effects for comprehensive parity legislation or policies than for less-comprehensive ones. Few studies assessed other mental health outcomes.
  
  Conclusions
  
  Evidence indicates that mental health benefits legislation, particularly comprehensive parity legislation, is effective in improving financial protection and increasing appropriate utilization of mental health services for people with mental health conditions. Evidence is limited for other mental health outcomes.
  
  
• Keywords:
  Community Health Services Female Health Expenditures Health Services Accessibility Humans Insurance, Health Mental Disorders Mental Health Services Pregnancy Quality Of Health Care
• Source:
  Am J Prev Med. 48(6):755-766
• Pubmed ID:
  25998926
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC4700502
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  48
• Issue:
  6
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:616c26f294dc65d1fa52c1eb2f98470b87a8775b9eec6ac44c41e3dec9d88164
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/37248/cdc_37248_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 743.49 KB ]