Mental health care has often been covered poorly under private health insurance—but, according to Haiden Huskamp and coauthors in an article in Health Affairs, the payment burden on consumers may be lifting.

The researchers studied health care services for children with autism spectrum disorder, which are paid for out of pocket by consumers particularly frequently. The 2008 Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act was designed to help with imbalances such as these by equating behavioral health and medical/surgical benefits. 

Using nationwide health insurance commercial group claims data to examine trends in service use and spending among children with autism spectrum disorder before and after the law, the researchers sought to determine how the law would affect children with ASD and their families.

In fact, implementation was associated with increased use of both mental health and non–mental health services—but, in both cases, the usage was not associated with higher out-of-pocket expenses.  

Huskamp said, “The federal parity law helped protect families with children who have autism spectrum disorder from higher costs.”

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