For the upcoming HOP mental health awareness event, a topic that generates a great deal of conversation is “navigating the mental health system”, specifically regarding insurance. All agreed that, especially with the recent health care reform laws that will be enacted over the next few years, this is an area that we need to spend some time on during Mental Health Week, May 10th through 15th.

As it turns out, I opened the Science Times section of The New York Times this morning — it is entirely devoted to helping consumers decipher the new health care legislation from both a policy and clinical standpoint; I highly recommend checking the whole section out on line if you can’t pick up a copy. And, lo and behold, there’s an excellent article entitled “Mental Health Experts Applaud Focus on Parity”. The focus is two-fold: the mental health care parity laws that will go into effect this July, providing that coverage for mental health treatments can be no more restrictive than for medical and surgical treatment; and how health reform will amplify these new parity laws to the benefit of those who need treatment for mental illnesses.

See related post on Obama administration rules for a single deductible.