The Obama administration issued new rules on Friday on the insurance coverage of mental health care. Under the rules, employers and group health plans cannot provide less coverage for mental health care than for the treatment of physical conditions. Insurers cannot set higher co-payments and deductibles or stricter limits on treatment for mental illness and addiction disorders. They also cannot establish separate deductibles for mental health care and physical health care. The rules will make it easier for people to obtain treatment for mental health issues like depression, schizophrenia, eating disorders, and drug and alcohol abuse. Previously, many health plans had limits on hospital inpatient days and outpatient visits for mental health treatments, but not for other types of care. In addition, patients typically faced higher co-payments for visiting mental health professionals than for visiting primary care physicians.
Under the rules, insurers can still review claims for "medical necessity", can still require prior approval of some services, and can still charge consumers more for doctors and hospitals that are not on their list of preferred providers. But the insurer cannot enforce these requirements in different ways for medical services and mental health services.
The government said the rules would benefit 111 million people in group health plans and 29 million people in plans sponsored by state and local governments. The rules carry out a 2008 law that was adopted with bipartisan support. The new rules will take effect July 1. (Full Story)
Israel officially responded to the U.N. report on the Gaza war (the report was called the Goldstone report). They sent a 40-page document to the U.N. secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, that outlines the findings so far of their military investigations into the Israeli Army's conduct during the war. The U.N. had called for an independent, non-military commission of inquiry. Israel's document did not address the possibility of an independent commission. Israel defended the credibility of its internal military investigation (the military investigating the military? I'm sure their findings will be quite damning...).
Israel's report concluded that "the strategies adopted by Hamas, and in particular its systematic entrenchment in the heart of civilian areas, created profound operational dilemmas." The document also concluded that in complex combat situations, errors of judgment can occur (with tragic results), but that does not necessarily mean that war crimes had occurred.
The Israeli government has been considering the establishment of a judicial investigative committee. Israel is divided on this issue. The defense minister, Ehud Barak, opposes this idea. While others in Israel argue that the military investigation is not enough.
The Palestinian government has reportedly delivered a letter to the secretary general stating that they have established a special commission that would review the claims in the Goldstone report, and they will carry out whatever investigations the commission deems necessary. The Goldstone report called for "appropriate investigations that are independent and in conformity with international standards" to investigate "serious violations" of international law. The report recommended that if no good-faith, independent investigations were under way within six months, the Security Council should refer the Gaza case to the International Criminal Court. (Full Story)
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