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Part
2- Is Your Health Insurance Taking Care of Your Mental Health Needs?
In
Part 1 of this article, located in our News Archives of May-June
2001, ACT briefly discussed how an individual can determine what
their health plan will pay for their mental health care, and what
financial responsibility the individual may personally endure.
We also commented on what steps ACT had taken so far in
attempts to maintain open access to individuals in need of care but
for whom proper care was not affordable.
On
a positive note:
The
Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2001, bill S. 543, a
bill to provide for equal coverage of mental health benefits with
respect to health insurance coverage unless comparable limitations
are imposed on medical and surgical benefits, was passed by a voice
vote in the Senate on October 30, 2001.
All provisions as approved by the Health, Education, Labor
& Pension Committee on August 1 were kept intact except for the
effective date, which has been pushed back one year to January 1,
2003.
This bill has now been attached to the Labor-HHS-Education
Appropriations Act, which will next be considered at the
upcoming House-Senate conference.
This bill is significant for individuals seeking mental
health care and providers of mental health care alike, in that it
opens access to mental health services that have before been
unaffordable to many persons in need.
Specifically, this bill would provide for in-network parity
and it closes all the loopholes in the Mental Health Parity Act of
1996, such as discriminatory limits on inpatient days and outpatient
sessions, maximum out-of-pocket limits, co-payments and deductibles.
The American Psychological Association is taking grassroots
action in getting this bill passed; Dr. Schneidmiller, ACT’s Risk
Management Director, is actively involved in this committee action.
In addition to the APA, 153 other national organizations are
showing their support for passage of this bill.
To learn more, go to:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:s.00543
Continued
Health Care Access Concerns:
Though
it appears that mental health parity may become a reality in 2003,
there is considerable immediate concern that Medicare is cutting its
fee schedule while actual costs of doing business are increasing.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released
the final physician fee schedule for 2002 on November 1st,
which includes unfavorable policy changes effectively lowering
payment for services paid under the physician fee schedule by 5.4
percent.
In contrast to this rate cut is the 6.2 percent increase in
costs of medical business as is indicated by published and much
respected research conducted by the Medical Group Management
Association, of which Ms. Erinn Moore, ACT President, is an active
member.
ACT is actively soliciting the help of the Honorable members
of our North Carolina Senate and Representative seats, Senator Jesse
Helms, Senator John Edwards and Representative Eva Clayton in
reviewing CMS rationale and pressuring CMS to review their decision.
The medical community feels that CMS’s rate cut will
immediately impact accessibility to medical care by persons covered
by Medicare and/ or Medicaid.
In addition, many private insurance companies contract with
doctors to link their own payments to those offered by Medicare.
These contracts will make it difficult for doctors to accept
patients who are covered by these insurance types, also.
Do you want to take action?
Contact our Senators and Representative and let them know how
this rate cut will negatively affect you:
Senator
Jesse Helms
1-202-224-6342
jesse_helms@helms.senate.gov
Senator
John Edwards
1-202-224-3154
senator@edwards.senate.gov
Representative
Eva Clayton
1-202-225-3101
eclayton1@mail.house.gov
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ACT
Annual Meeting A Success Our
Annual Meeting, held at Lake Norman on October 13th, was
a great success due to the active participation of our members.
It was a time for catching up with colleagues, discussing
ways to enhance the provision of mental health care to our North
Carolina population and gathering ongoing Medical Education.
Though
ACT doctors gather in smaller groups throughout North Carolina on a
quarterly basis to discuss enhanced care, our annual meeting is
always looked forward to eagerly, as we are able
to pull together our entire doctor network and group-share ideas
that enhance ACT in our mission
“to be a market leader in the
provision of high-quality and comprehensive mental health care to
individuals in need while providing a work environment that is
rewarding.”
Employee Anniversaries
 Mrs.
Karen Carlough
celebrates
3 years of faithful service on November 4
Ms.
Viola Simmons
celebrates
1 year of faithful service on December 5
Employee Birthdays
Mrs.
Doris Moore
November 1
Dr.
Linda “Dawn” Allen November 5
Dr.
Pete Boyle
November 7
Dr.
Robert “Bob” Zozus November 22
Mrs.
“Jean” Patel
December 7
Ms.
“Jodi” Pearson
December 13
Dr.
David Cook
December 25
Welcome New Employees!
Dr. Nancy Costello serving the
Durham and Greensboro areas
Dr. Bart Spano serving the New Bern
area
Dr. Frank Bettoli serving the
Charlotte area
Dr. Kala Annambhotla serving the
Greensboro area
Dr. Robert Peluso serving the
Concord area
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