INTRODUCTION The historical path to the current state of mental health treatment has been anything but cogent, with movements shifting between regulation and deregulation, institutionalization and deinstitutionalization. Progress toward a comprehensive plan for mental health care has been hindered not only by concerns over which treatment methods are most effective but whether cries for insured treatment are even meritorious. In 2008, Congress took historic steps and passed the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, which regulates the mental health insurance industry at an unprecedented level. (l) It remains unclear how this regulation will affect the level of substantive mental health care in the United States, especially when coupled with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010. (2)
