There have been legislative and regulatory efforts over the years to bring mental health treatment and coverage to an equal level as that for other health issues.
Most recently, Congress passed the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) in 2008, and the Affordable Care Act specified mental health and substance abuse treatment as an essential health benefit for Marketplace health plans. Earlier this year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released proposed regulations for implementing the MHPAEQ.
This updated policy briefing looks at the issue of mental health parity, its background, current law, the debate, and what’s next. It addresses access; equivalence, quality and efficacy of services; Medicaid; and has a new focus on enforcement.
Source: Goodell S. Health Policy Brief: Enforcing mental health parity. HealthAffairs.org, Nov. 9. 2015. http://healthaffairs.org/healthpolicybriefs/brief_pdfs/healthpolicybrief_147.pdf
Related: National Alliance on Mental Illness, A long road ahead: achieving true parity in mental health and substance use care. April 2015. http://www.nami.org/About-NAMI/Publications-Reports/Public-Policy-Reports/A-Long-Road-Ahead/2015-ALongRoadAhead.pdf
Posted by AHA Resource Center (312) 422-2050, rc@aha.org
Filed under: Health reform, Mental health services, Posted by Diana Culbertson, Regulation and legislation | Tagged: addiction coverage, subtance abuse coverage |
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