Mental Health: Mental Health Benefits Legislation

The Community Preventive Services Task Force recommends mental health benefits legislation, particularly comprehensive parity legislation, to improve financial protection and increase appropriate utilization of mental health services for people with mental health conditions. There is also evidence that mental health benefits legislation is associated with increased access to care, increased diagnosis of mental health conditions, reduced prevalence of poor mental health, and reduced suicide rates. Mental health benefits legislation involves changing regulations for mental health insurance coverage to improve financial protection (i.e., decrease financial burden) and to increase access to, and use of, mental health services. Such legislation can be enacted at the federal or state level.