Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Nov 1;2(3):10.1177/2156869312455436.
doi: 10.1177/2156869312455436.

Institutions, Politics, and Mental Health Parity

Elaine M Hernandez  1 , Christopher Uggen  2
Affiliations

Institutions, Politics, and Mental Health Parity

Elaine M Hernandez et al. Soc Ment Health. .

Abstract

Mental health parity laws require insurers to extend comparable benefits for mental and physical health care. Proponents argue that by placing mental health services alongside physical health services, such laws can help ensure needed treatment and destigmatize mental illness. Opponents counter that such mandates are costly or unnecessary. The authors offer a sociological account of the diffusion and spatial distribution of state mental health parity laws. An event history analysis identifies four factors as especially important: diffusion of law, political ideology, the stability of mental health advocacy organizations and the relative health of state economies. Mental health parity is least likely to be established during times of high state unemployment and under the leadership of conservative state legislatures.

Keywords: mental health; mental health policy; mental health services.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Mental Health Parity State Mandates (2005) Source: National Congress of State Legislatures and Mental Health America.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Conceptual Framework
Figure 3
Figure 3
Smoothed Hazard Function Estimate for Time to Passage of Any Parity Law
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Allison Paul D. Survival Analysis Using SAS®: A Practical Guide. 2. Cary, NC: SAS Institute; 2010.
    1. Amenta Edwin. Bold Relief: Institutional Politics and the Origins of Modern American Social Policy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press; 1998.
    1. Amenta Edwin, Bonastia Chris, Caren Neal. U.S. Social Policy in Comparative and Historical Perspective: Concepts, Images, Arguments, and Research Strategies. Annual Review of Sociology. 2001;27:213–34.
    1. Amenta Edwin, Poulsen Jane D. Social Politics in Context: The Institutional Politics Theory and Social Spending at the End of the New Deal. Social Forces. 1996;75:33–61.
    1. Barry Colleen L, Huskamp Haiden A, Goldman Howard H. A Political History of Federal Mental Health and Addiction Insurance Parity. Milbank Quarterly. 2010;88:404–33. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources