Wednesday, July 20, 2005

Improve coverage for mental health care (Michigan) Kalamazoo Gazette editorial - "If Michigan residents with cancer were told by their health care insurers they could only have a limited number of cancer treatments a year, or have a lifetime cap on cancer treatment, there would be an uproar in the Legislature. If those with diabetes were charged a higher copay or deductible for diabetes treatment than for other illnesses, we'd expect the state to step in to halt discrimination against diabetics. Yet, people who have mental illnesses are often limited in the amount of psychiatric care their private insurers are willing to pay for. Often, insurers limit the number of outpatient visits a person with a mental illness may have in a given year, or limit the number of days in a psychiatric hospital..."