16
Healthcare Journal of Baton Rouge
| July / August 2008 Issue | healthcarejournalbr.com
arity. A simple word, a simpler concept. One that is
woven into our American fabric–equal treatment for all.
But for the mentally ill, and sometimes those who treat
them, parity is still a wish, a dream, dare we say a delu-
sion. Because despite years of debate and some steps in
the right direction, mental illness is not given the same
weight as physical illness, either in terms of insurance
coverage for patients or reimbursement to healthcare
providers. If 15 percent of American adults require men-
tal health care annually, why is there such a reluctance
to pay for it?
The original disparity was understandable–the physical
and medical underpinnings of mental illness were
by: Philip Gatto
280 BC:
Theophrastus describes 28 “charac-
ters” or personality disorders.
23 AD:
Pliny the Elder's natural cures include
treatments for the afflictions of the mind.