Issue
In today’s fast-paced world, mental health issues become more acute and need immediate addressing. At the same time, insurance policies fail to ensure proper access to medical care and present barriers. These obstacles include high out-of-pocket expenses, small provider networks, and insufficient coverage for psychiatric drugs and therapy sessions. As a result, by ensuring parity in coverage and expanding provider networks, it will be possible to achieve better health outcomes and improve easy access to medical care.
The issue is that insurance policies fail to provide enough assistance when it comes to mental health coverage. Substance abusers in the United States have historically had higher rates of uninsured individuals than the rest of the population, with 20% of the people not having coverage and 26% of those with an addiction to drugs (Dickson-Gomez et al. 1). Due to this, people might have a difficult time getting access to proper mental health treatments.
Solutions
Parity
To address inadequate mental health coverage in insurance, several factors must be considered. For example, the first aspect to consider is parity. In terms of ethos, mental health is as essential as physical health, and people should not experience discrimination regarding it (Mulia et al. 114). As for pathos, with such a solution, it will be feasible to foster a society that values the mental well-being of all individuals. Logos demonstrates that by ensuring parity, lower costs will be achieved, with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act addressing this issue (Snider et al. 3). At the same time, another solution is needed.
Service Expansion
Another approach that can be helpful is to encourage insurance companies to expand their networks of mental health professionals (Geissler and Evans 104). When discussing ethos, collaboration with healthcare professionals demonstrates insurance companies’ commitment (Geissler and Evans 104). Pathos supports the claim that a lack of proper service expansion leads to patient frustration and exacerbation of symptoms (Geissler and Evans 104).
Finally, logos highlight that timely access to medical care improves patient outcomes (Geissler and Evans 104). To implement the solutions, advocacy for legislation that enforces parity laws and mandates comprehensive mental health coverage is crucial. Moreover, another step in the implementation process is to raise public awareness of the importance of comprehensive mental health insurance coverage.
Works Cited
Dickson-Gomez, Julia et al. “Insurance Barriers to Substance Use Disorder Treatment After Passage of Mental Health and Addiction Parity Laws and the Affordable Care Act: A Qualitative Analysis.” Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports, vol. 3, 2022.
Geissler, Kimberley H., and Elizabeth A. Evans. “Changes in Medicaid Acceptance by Substance Abuse Treatment Facilities After Implementation of Federal Parity.” Medical Care, vol. 58, no. 2, 2020, pp. 101-107.
Mulia, Nina et al. “U.S. Alcohol Treatment Admissions after the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act: Do State Parity Laws and Race/Ethnicity Make a Difference?.” Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, vol. 106, 2019, pp. 113-121.
Snider, Julia Thornton, et al. “Association between state Medicaid eligibility thresholds and deaths due to substance use disorders.” JAMA Network Open, vol. 2, no. 4, 2019, 1-23.