What is the status of mental health care in the United States and how does it fare in this discussion? The employer-based health insurance system in the US came into being after World
War II. It was designed at that time to provide separate and unequal reimbursement for medical and mental health care. Patients pay a higher proportion of the cost of their mental health care than they do for medical care. There are higher deductibles and copayments, and annual and lifetime limits on reimbursement for inpatient psychiatric treatment.