(Clinical Practice.) Edited by David Spiegel. 199 pp. Washington, D.C., American Psychiatric Press, 1999. $28.50. ISBN 0-88048-769-0.
The past decade has seen a startling drop in the provision ofinsurance benefits for psychiatric care. Whereas the real valueof employer-provided insurance for general medical treatmentdecreased 7.2 percent from 1988 to 1997, benefits for the treatmentof psychiatric disorders fell by a dramatic 54 percent duringthat time. It is likely that a substantial part of this declineis accounted for by reluctance on the part of insurers, healthmaintenance organizations, and managed-care companies to providebenefits for psychotherapeutic treatment, which was once themainstay of psychiatric care. Insurers and managed-care companiesroutinely refuse to authorize payment . . . [Full Text of this Article]
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