Mental health benefits financed by employers.

Although most employer-financed health insurance plans cover mental disorders, benefits have traditionally been more restricted than for other illnesses. Coverage for mental disorders is usually for shorter periods and maximum dollar benefits are often lower. Also, plans commonly pay a smaller share of mental health care expenses . These differences are more pronounced for outpatient mental health care . Coverage of mental health care in a hospital is the same as for other types of hospital care for four-tenths of the employees in medium and large private firms; outpatient mental health care is almost always subject to stricter limits than other illnesses . Several reasons are commonly advanced for treating mental health care differently than other types of medical care . One reason is that mental disorders are not as easy to define as other illnesses .' Also, mental health problems can be subjective, with treatment continuing for an indeterminant period than when confinement is caused by other illnesses . These characteristics are often extended to outpatient care, when treatment may be highly elective on the part of the health insurance subscriber .' This article is based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' 1985 survey of benefits for full-time employees in medium and large firms . A sample of approximately 1,500 establishments yielded information on the detailed provisions of more than 2,200 health insurance plans either fully or partially financed by employers. The statistical universe