Capital Blue Cross eliminates behavioral health coverage from individual plans, leaving thousands ou

[PADemD]

"It was a business decision, said Cindy Hatcher, senior director of individual products at Capital Blue Cross."

http://www.mcall.com/health/mc-behavioral-20101222,0,6295807.story

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Good Morning and thank you for this info.

I expect other insurance comp. to follow suit, one way or the other.
Insurers have 3 years left to figure out how to cherry pick their customers.

Note the words "individual products" used to describe coverage.

[mmonk]

2. Thanks for posting this.

It affects many families and I have a feeling, more problems in the future for more families. As long as our system is designed to benefit for profit health insurance entities and non profit entities arranged in a for profit model format of sorts without patient care first, this is how it is.

[Karmadillo]

3. Does this happen with single-payer systems?

nt

[Recursion]

6. It can and has

Some states in the past have dropped mental health from Medicaid, though Kennedy's bill from a couple of years ago now keeps them from doing that. But there's nothing inherent in the idea of single payer that makes it be less of a bastard than private companies.

[hootinholler]

9. Except maybe the profit motive

Since a single payer plan does not include profit for the administrator I would think that would make it less bastard like than privately administered plans.

-Hoot

[Recursion]

10. The history of states and Medicaid argues against that

Profit, IMO, is far less important than a lot of this board thinks it is.

[hootinholler]

13. How so?

Are you asserting the states profit from medicaid? Admittedly, I am somewhat ignorant on the details.

Personally, I believe profit is the manna of greed.

-Hoot

[Recursion]

15. No, I'm saying Medicaid has no profit motive at all

but it's capable of being just as evil as private insurance. For that matter, my insurance company is a not-for-profit, but my coverage isn't noticeably different from any of the for-profit insurance policies I've had.

But, what I meant was, Medicaid is a single-payer system that in some states has gone out of its way in the past to prevent people from receiving care (and doctors from receiving payment for that care).

[MineralMan]

4. In Minnesota, state laws prohibit stuff like that. Mental health

coverage is not optional in Minnesota. If your state doesn't have such a law, it's a good thing to bring up with your state legislators.

[cbdo2007]

5. I was thinking the same thing. The article says in PA they must give mental health coverage....

to "group" plans, so this is only for individual plans sold to individuals. They aren't covered by the laws.

You're correct that this should be taken up with the state legislators. Sure the insurers could still leave the coverage in there and are assholes, but they aren't any more to blame than the govt. that appears to have overlooked the individuals.

[originalpckelly]

7. Well, mental illness doesn't really count. It's all in their heads.

:sarcasm:

[n2doc]

8. Dropping mental health coverage, nothing could go wrong with that one, right?

I mean, if someone is having some psychological problems and now can't see anyone because it is too expensive, that could never, ever, cause any problems for the rest of us, right?

:sarcasm:

[EFerrari]

11. Isn't this illegal? (Like it matter, lol) But, didn't we pass

a Mental Health Parity law a while back?

[superduperfarleft]

12. That was only for group coverage.

This is for individual. They can pretty much exclude whatever they want on individual policies.

[EFerrari]

14. Thank you. I don't think I ever knew that. n/t