by Sarah Fioroni, West Health Institute

Most Americans support law requiring coverage of mental health care that is equal to physical health care coverage, West Health-Gallup Health care Survey, Sept. 9 to 16, 2024. Credit: West Health-Gallup

Roughly four in five Americans say they either strongly (48%) or somewhat (31%) support a federal law that requires insurance companies to cover mental health at the same level they do medical or surgical care, including 95% of Democrats, 79% of independents and 67% of Republicans.

Despite the widespread support, half of Americans (50%) have little to no trust that health insurers will comply with the law, according to a new West Health-Gallup survey released today.

In 2020, less than half of all adults with mental illness received treatment, according to the White House, leading the Biden administration to strengthen the implementation of the 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) by expanding access to care and lowering costs for the 175 million Americans with private health insurance.

It is too early to tell if this will change the minds of the more than seven in 10 Americans who believe the federal government is not doing enough to ensure access to affordable mental health care, which was the majority sentiment among Democrats (87%), independents (73%) and Republicans (57%).

Additionally, a clear majority, six in 10 Americans, say that it's not very or not at all likely that access to affordable mental health care in the U.S. will improve in the next five years.

"High costs, limited access and stigma are preventing millions of Americans from getting the mental health care they need. The U.S. health care system must do better," said Timothy Lash, president of West Health, a family of nonprofit organizations focused on health care and aging.

The poll was fielded Sept. 9–16 with 3,660 U.S. adults via web using the Gallup Panel.

Previous West Health-Gallup data revealed that three-quarters of Americans feel mental health issues are treated worse than physical health issues. Though many view treatments such as counseling or prescription medication as effective, others deem them unaffordable or inaccessible or say negative stigma or their ability to self-treat might keep them away.

The U.S. government reports that in the almost 16 years since the enactment of MHPAEA, "disparities in coverage between mental health and substance use disorder benefits and medical and surgical benefits have persisted and grown."

In issuing its new requirements for the federal law's implementation, the Biden administration seeks to level the playing field so that treatment for mental health conditions is as accessible as other medical treatments.

Methodology

The West Health-Gallup Health care Survey was conducted by the web from Sept. 9–16, 2024, with 3,660 adults aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia as a part of the Gallup Panel. For results based on the full sample, the margin of sampling error at the 95% confidence level is ±2.0 percentage points for response percentages around 50% and is ±1.2 percentage points for response percentages around 10% or 90%, design effect included.

Reported subgroups will have a larger margin of error, typically ±3 to ±5 percentage points.

Gallup weighted the combined samples to correct for nonresponse. Nonresponse adjustments were made by adjusting the sample to match the national demographics of gender, age, race, Hispanic ethnicity, education and region. Demographic weighting targets were based on the most recent Current Population Survey figures for the aged 18 and older U.S. population.

In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

Provided by West Health Institute