Spotlight on the Confusion of Covering Mental Health Care

The Department of Labor released a new report in January showing that insurers and health plans are failing to show how they cover mental health like other physical care treatments. The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act has been law since 2008, yet health plans are unable to clearly show how they provide equitable appointments and payments to people seeking care. 

“Spotlight on the Confusion of Covering Mental Health Care” will help make sense of what kind of mental health care is supposed to be covered, and how health plans, regulators and you can make it easier to get the therapy you need.  

This critical, dynamic hour-long program includes reported stories explaining what mental health parity is supposed to look like for various conditions and what’s being done to improve enforcement. Personal stories of people with mental illnesses and providers reveal the impact of denied coverage for substance use and eating disorder care. Interviews and testimonials illustrate how much it can cost families and the nation when covered treatments are delayed or denied by health plans in the midst of a crisis.

This in-depth mental health program will explore mental health topics including symptoms and treatments of illnesses like substance use disorder, eating disorders, trauma, crisis episodes, suicide and more.

Contact your local public radio station for broadcast information.

GUESTS