The Effects of Mental Health Parity on Spending and Utilization for Bipolar Major Depression and Adjustment Disorders

This article counters concerns that benefit expansion under parity would increase spending. The study finds that mental health parity provisions in the Federal Employees Health Benefits program reduced total out-of-pocket spending for patients with more-severe behavioral health conditions, while the level of services they received remained largely unchanged. The study also found, however, that individuals with less-severe but acute mental health conditions received fewer services, suggesting that health plans manage benefits selectively.