August 30, 2007

Assembly Report

Mental health parity offers Californians a way out

Will save billions; long overdue

By Assemblymember Jim Beall
Special to the Times

Mental health parity is long overdue in California. Several states recently implemented mental health parity bills, and as far back as Jan. 1, 2001, the U.S. Office of Personnel and Management (OPM) implemented mental health and substance abuse parity in their Federal Employees Health Benefit (FEHB) Program. The United States Surgeon General estimates that the lack of parity between mental illness, substance abuse and other medical conditions costs the nation $70 billion a year and that the economic loss from untreated mental illness to California businesses exceeds $10 billion annually.

California cannot afford to fall behind. Limiting treatment for these Californians is costly. Research shows that not treating mental health and substance abuse disorders comes with a hefty price tag and that the savings resulting from expanded treatment coverage far outweighed the upfront costs.

More than 70 percent of the costs of prison, parole, criminal justice and child welfare are the result of untreated mental health disorders. Given the California's dire budget crisis, we must move toward innovative solutions that provide significant cost savings. And, providing access to preventative treatment options in lieu of a costly criminal justice system is such an idea.

The numbers don't lie. Children whose families receive appropriate substance abuse treatment are less likely to enter into, or remain in, foster care. Families receiving substance abuse treatment spend, on average, $363 less a month on regular medical care than other families.

After completing treatment, there is almost a 20 percent increase in employment and an 11 percent decrease in the number of welfare recipients. And, re-arrest rates dropped by 50 percent, from 75 to 25 percent, when an inmate received substance abuse treatment. Adolescent re-arrest rates decreased by 30 percent, down to 35 percent from 65 percent, after one year of residential treatment.

However, these numbers do not reflect the emotional toll taken on those afflicted with mental health and substance abuse conditions and their families. As it stands today, many health plans do not provide coverage for mental health and substance abuse disorders. Those plans that do offer coverage impose disparate limits on mental health care in essence, discriminating against those with diagnosed and treatable health care needs, mental health care needs.

To this end, I introduced Assembly Bill (AB) 423 to address the disparate treatment of those diagnosed with mental health disorders and substance abuse addiction. AB 423, if signed, will provide patients suffering from mental health and substance abuse conditions both needed treatment and health care coverage for those illnesses, coverage that is equitable to that provided for other medical illnesses.

The bill is not just fiscally right, but it is the ethically correct thing to do. I will not stop working on this issue until mental health and substance abuse disorders are viewed in the same light as other chronic medical conditions.

I am optimistic that AB 423 will be signed into law and, as a result, bring equal access to mental health care and substance abuse treatment. In addition to AB 423, I formed the Assembly Select Committee on Alcohol and Drug Abuse to delve deeply into this issue. My Web site has all the materials presented at recent meetings and videos of previous hearings. I will be holding hearings in Santa Clara County in the near future, so please visit my Web site, http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a24 for updates.