YOU ARE NOT ALONE - A companion online community discussion board for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast with Paul Gilmartin

I hope this is the right place for this question.

Under the new US healthcare rules, I know mental health coverage is required for insurance purchased through the state and .gov marketplaces. My question is about employer-provided health insurance. Are those policies also required to provide mental health coverage?

My son is currently on a marketplace policy, but his employer is now offering insurance for next year. For the life of us, we can't find any reference in the documentation to mental health coverage. It's a weird policy to begin with...It looks like one part is a minimum-coverage policy, and then they've added another policy that seems to add additional coverage. The minimum-coverage policy specifically say is does not cover mental health care (or surgeries, for that matter.) The additional policy doesn't appear to mention mental health at all. My son definitely needs to see a counselor occasionally, so he's definitely going to need coverage of some kind. He could elect to continue his current marketplace plan, but because his employer is offering insurance, he will no longer qualify for any subsidies, making it a lot more expensive to him than this employer plan.

So, is mental health coverage required for employer-provided insurance?

Why not give the insurance company a call and ask? Don't quote me on this, but I think the Mental Health Parity Act requires some kind of coverage, though certain businesses can be exempt from this requirement if they meet qualifications.

Otherwise, perhaps do some local investigation to see if there are low-fee therapy options around your city? When I did have insurance mental health wasn't included, but I found a sliding scale office - albeit they had a 3 month waiting list - that accepted me for about $15 per visit.

I don't know either. But you try calling a clinic. Ask if they accept your insurance.