Consumers Living in States With Parity Laws Continue to Pay More for Behavioral Health Care than Medical Care

OPEN MINDS, The Behavioral Health & Social Service Industry Analyst Industry News Between 1996 and 2003, consumers living in states that have mandated mental health and substance abuse treatment parity laws continued to pay more for mental health care visits than medical care visits. The average cost for care at the twentieth visit was $35 for mental health care compared to only $20 for medical care. Before the fifth visit or prescription fill, out-of-pocket (OOP) costs for mental health care visits or prescription fills were equivalent to those of non- mental health care visits or fills. After the . . .