Now insurers can't exclude people with pre-existing conditions, can't kick patients off their plans when they run up big medical bills, and can't set dollar limits on how much care they'll cover.
Consumers could set dollar amount limits on one card number, for instance, or could cancel a specific card number in order to end a relationship with a merchant without affecting others.
Of employers in 26 states surveyed by the General Accounting Office, 14percentt -- or between 9,000 and 13,000 employers -- continued to set lower lifetime dollar limits for mental health treatment.
"If you're basically giving a subsidy of a set dollar figure that's limited in terms of its growth and that won't stay up with the growth in medical costs, I mean, that's — you're basically getting a certain amount of money to put towards buying insurance".
The S.B.A. said it was simply following dollar limits set by Congress.
Under the statute, the Mental Health Parity Act, group health plans may not set annual or lifetime dollar limits on a person's mental health care that are lower than the limits for general medical and surgical services.
Under a 1996 law, group health plans are forbidden to set annual or lifetime dollar limits on mental health care that are lower than the limits for general medical and surgical services.
The Affordable Care Act prohibits insurers from placing lifetime limits on most benefits that consumers receive and sets a minimum for annual dollar limits.
Under that law, which expired on Sept. 30, health plans could not set more restrictive annual or lifetime dollar limits for mental health care than for the treatment of physical illnesses.
Make sure you are not buying into a plan that sets serious limits on the amount of care you can receive, as some plans will lock in dollar limits or limit your visits per year.
