{"id":355663,"date":"2016-04-04T10:41:57","date_gmt":"2016-04-04T15:41:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.findlaw-admin.com\/ability-law\/civilrights\/discrimination\/mental-disability-and-insurance-coverage.html"},"modified":"2017-07-17T13:42:40","modified_gmt":"2017-07-17T18:42:40","slug":"mental-disability-and-insurance-coverage","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.findlaw.com\/civilrights\/discrimination\/mental-disability-and-insurance-coverage.html","title":{"rendered":"Mental Disability and Insurance Coverage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Mental Disability and Insurance Coverage<\/h1>\n
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Created by FindLaw’s team<\/a> of legal writers and editors<\/i><\/p>\n\n | Last updated\n

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Mental illness afflicts millions of Americans, reducing quality of life, straining relationships, and impeding work performance. Despite the pleas of the medical community — and research demonstrating both physical causes and effective treatments for many types of mental disability — insurers have historically treated mental illness as something distinct from other types of illness. Those suffering from a mental disability have been stigmatized, blamed for their condition, and denied insurance<\/a> or subjected to limitations on insurance coverage. However, the law recognizes the discriminatory distinction<\/a> with laws that protect the mentally disabled despite many insurers’ insistence on isolating mental disability.<\/p>\n

Overcoming the Physical\/Mental Barrier<\/h2>\n

Insurers have bought into the erroneous (though long-held) notion that mental disorders are somehow separate and distinct from physical disorders. As a result, insurers tend to offer comparatively generous coverage for most medical conditions but give very limited coverage for the treatment of mental illness. Common limitations include larger co-payments, lower "caps" on annual and lifetime coverage, and far fewer days of inpatient and outpatient treatment. Increased mental health benefits, if available, typically mean higher premiums.<\/p>\n

While insurers try to isolate mental health problems from other ailments, the medical and scientific communities are making great strides in discrediting the false notions underlying the insurers’ efforts. The line between mental and physical ailments is nearly indistinct because of strong scientific evidence demonstrating that mental illness can be identified and treated just like any other type of illness. Therefore, insurance protection for mental illness should be comparable to protection for other health problems.<\/p>\n

Laws Protecting Persons with Mental Disability<\/h2>\n

The denial of insurance benefits violates the principles behind federal and state laws created to eradicate discrimination based on mental illness. These same laws provide a means for those who have suffered wrongful discrimination to pursue equal treatment and include the following:<\/p>\n