Effects of the Vermont Mental Health and Substance Abuse Parity Law

Table IV.8: Employer Satisfaction With Selected Aspects of the Vermont Parity Law, by Firm Size, %

  All Firmsa Number of Employees
Few Than 10 10 to 25 26 to 50 More Than 50
Percentage very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with:          
Effects of the parity law on improving employee access to mental health/substance abuse (MH/SA) services 78.9 73.9 83.8 81.5 77.1
Type of informatioin from health insurance plan for monitoring costs and utilization 62.2 56.7** 67.3 50.7** 78.0
Availability of information explaining the parity law 47.6 34.8** 50.1** 52.2** 80.3
Effects of the parity law on health care costs 47.1 35.0** 51.0 53.5 69.3
Percentage very satisfied with:          
Effects of the parity law on improving employee access to MH/SA services 27.7 31.7 23.4 30.3 25.1
Type of informatioin from health insurance plan for monitoring costs and utilization 11.7 9.0* 9.4* 18.4 23.4
Availability of information explaining the parity law 10.2 5.9** 8.1** 17.1 26.2
Effects of the parity law on health care costs 12.2 10.8 11.4 19.3 12.7
Percentage somewhat satisfied with:          
Effects of the parity law on improving employee access to MH/SA services 51.2 42.2 60.4 51.2 52.0
Type of informatioin from health insurance plan for monitoring costs and utilization 50.5 47.6 57.9 32.3** 54.6
Availability of information explaining the parity law 37.4 28.8** 42.0 35.1* 54.2
Effects of the parity law on health care costs 34.9 24.1** 39.6 34.2* 56.6
Sources: Mathematica Policy Research Survey of Vermont Employers to Assess the Impact of the Vermont Parity Act
Note: The survey includes Vermont businesses that were in operation as of January 1, 1998 and that remained in operation as of the time of the survey (Fall 2000). The survey excluded those that had, on average, fewer than five employees across establishments in calendar year 1999 and businesses operated by Federal and State government entities. This table is limited to fully insured businesses where someone had heard of the parity law.
   
* Significantly different from employers with more than 50 employees at the .05 level, two-tailed test
** Significantly different from employers with more than 50 employees at the .01 level, two-tailed test

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