Posted by AuntieMel on December 2, 2004, at 13:00:39
In reply to Mental Health Parity, posted by gardenergirl on November 30, 2004, at 22:48:11
A large part of the problem is the ERISA act (was it an act?). ERISA tells companies large enough to self-insure that they don't have to follow state insurance rules. The rules for ERISA have a much lower level of requirements.
The idea was so companies wouldn't have to have different policies for all the states they employ people in. Which makes sense - except that the requirements never get updated.
I live in a state that has laws on parity, but my employer is a large company. They self-insure and hire an insurance company (Cigna, in my case) to administer the claims.
I'll have to check out the Wellstone act to see if it applies to ERISA.
Argh!
poster:AuntieMel
thread:422563
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20041129/msgs/423381.html