At Risk Youth

New government rules that take effect July 1 should force insurance companies pay out more for treatments for mental diseases.

The new rules apply to people enrolled in group health plans from private employers or ones provided by state and local governments. The new rules will affect 140 million people, and increase insurance premiums by $25.6 billion over the next decade, according to government estimates. Businesses that employ under 50 people will be exempt.

The new rules provide that insurance companies cannot restrict coverage for diseases such as autism, schizophrenia, eating disorders, drug addiction, and alcoholism by limiting the number of hospital days and outpatient treatments.

Insurers can still require “prior approval and that a course of treatment is medically necessary.” However, insurance companies will no longer be able to require separate deductibles for medical/surgical expenses, and mental health/substance abuse charges. Policyholders would have a single deductible for both types of treatment.

“Patients with mental illness often have a general medical condition such as diabetes or high blood pressure that requires treatment at the same time,” said Irvin L. Muszynski, “which means that a combined deductible makes sense.” Muszynski is a lawyer with the American Psychiatric Association.

The new rules were developed by the Labor Department, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Internal Revenue Service.

A study from British Columbia found that children and teens who are on anti-psychotic medicines are more likely to gain weight and develop diabetes.

The drugs in the two-year study — risperidone, quetiapine, olanzapine and clozapine — are used for mood and aggressive disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, bipolar disorder, and early onset schizophrenia.

The drugs increased the risk of diabetes by 300 percent, and doubled the risk for obesity.

The results do not necessarily mean that children should stop using these medications, said the study’s co-author, Dr. Jana Davidson of BC Children’s Hospital.

“On the one hand the medication has significant and worrisome effects,” she said. “On the other hand, in some of these cases, the kids being on medication is what allows them to function in their lives and allows them to stay in their families.

This study appeared in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry.

Researchers with the University of Oslo have found a link between poor mental health and acne in teenagers.

Dr. Jon Anders Halvorsen and his colleagues studied 3,775 adolescents, asking them about their diets, lifestyles, and mental health.

“Our study shows a possible link between diet and acne. However, when we introduce symptoms of depression and anxiety into our statistical model, the role of diet is less clear,” Dr. Halvorsen said in the journal BMC Public Health. “On the other hand, the association between acne and mental health problems was strong, even when diet was introduced.”