Case Parity, Payment and Patient Management
Paper instructions:
One of the chief objections to the enforcement of mental health parity laws is the fear voiced by managed care providers and others that giving generous unlimited benefits for mental health treatment will result in enormous increases in operating costs and ultimately in the premiums and other expenses charged to the consumer.
Spend some time researching this question on the Internet and in the CyberLibrary. Pretend that you are preparing a report for the worried CFO of a small managed care provider. To what degree are these concerns based in reality? What about the issue of malingering — feigning mental illness — for some type of financial benefits? What are the base-rates for malingering by feigning physical illness and injury? Is there any reason to believe that providing parity in mental health coverage will promote more malingering?
When reading reports and editorials, be alert to the possible sources of bias that might affect the writer or investigators view of the problem. Be a good critical thinker as you read and consider the views presented to you.