Mental Health and Substance Abuse Insurance Parity for Federal Employees: How Did Health Plans Respond?
The intent of parity regulation is to equalize private insurance coverage for mental and physical illness (an equity concern) and to eliminate wasteful forms of competition due to adverse selection (an efficiency concern). In 2001, a presidential directive requiring comprehensive parity was implemented in the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program. In this study, the authors examine how health plans responded to the parity directive.
