Woodman's drops mental health coverage

[oreo3leg]

I wonder how the new health insurance "reform" will play out. Time will tell.



http://host.madison.com/ct/news/local/health_med_fit/article_8fe48928-ee6f-11de-a3f1-001cc4c03286.html


Woodman's drops mental health coverage
Story Discussion Font Size: Default font size Larger font size By SHAWN DOHERTY [e-mail] | Posted: Monday, December 21, 2009 9:30 pm | (135) Comments




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Woodman’s Food Market, the giant grocery retailer, is dropping mental health benefits from its health insurance plan because it claims it cannot afford to comply with a new federal law that will require mental health coverage to be equal to benefits for other illnesses.

The federal mental health parity law, passed in 2008, takes effect this January. The law does not require companies to offer mental health benefits, but if their health plans do offer mental health coverage, it must be as generous as coverage for other diseases. Critics of the bill, including many businesses, had warned that it would backfire by forcing companies to drop what limited mental health benefits they do offer.

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Greer points out that in other states that have already passed similar state parity laws the price of insurance coverage has only gone up less than one percent. He also says that stinting on care up front will lead to higher costs down the road and is one of the reasons health care costs are exploding in this country.

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But Woodman's officials argue the federal government overstepped the line with this mandate. (The state of Wisconsin is considering passing similar legislation that would apply to smaller companies, and this bill is being fought by local businesses as well.) "I just see this as government making decisions that control more businesses," Woodman says.

He argues that the company’s health benefits are among the most generous in the state, and worries that someone with mental health problems could exploit that generosity. "If an employee went to a psychiatrist and ran up a million dollars, it would come out of our pockets," he says.

Asked how that situation is any different that an employee with expensive cancer treatment, he says, "Cancer is different. That’s an identifiable physical situation. Whereas with a mental health situation, you could say you need to see a psychiatrist every day for the next year and there’s no one to control those costs."

Advocates for the mentally ill argue such beliefs and statements are discriminatory. "That’s the whole reason behind parity laws," Greer says. "Mental illness is not any different than any other illness. It can be treated. Both schizophrenia and cancer can be controlled, and a person with both can have a productive and healthy life. It’s discriminatory to say that one illness is different or inferior to another."

Posted in Health_med_fit, Business on Monday, December 21, 2009 9:30 pm Updated: 9:41 am. Woodman's, Mental Health Parity, Clint Woodman, William Greer, Mental Health,

[Posteritatis]

1. "Exploit that generosity" - that's a really telling choice of words. (nt)