Source: HHS.gov
The departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Treasury have announced an important step in addressing the nation’s mental health crisis by proposing rules to better ensure that people seeking coverage for mental health and substance use disorder care can access treatment as easily as people seeking coverage for medical treatments.
“Mental health care is as important to the well-being of America’s workers as medical care, and we must eliminate barriers to getting people the lifesaving care that they often need,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. “Today’s announcement reaffirms the Biden-Harris administration’s commitment to ensuring equal access to mental health and substance disorder benefits for all workers and improving employee wellness.”
Enacted in 2008, the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act aims to make sure people seeking mental health and substance use disorder care do not face greater barriers to treatment than those faced by people seeking treatment for medical and surgical conditions. Generally, the act prohibits private health insurance companies from imposing copayments, prior authorization and other requirements on mental health or substance use disorder benefits that are more restrictive than those imposed on medical and surgical benefits.
Despite the law’s existence, people seeking coverage for mental health and substance use disorder care continue to face greater barriers when seeking benefits for that than when seeking medical or surgical benefits.
“HHS believes all Americans should have access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment, whenever and however they need it,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “We are ensuring that mental health is treated no differently than physical health and people in need of services have equitable access to care.”
The proposed rules announced today seek to fully protect the rights of people seeking mental health and substance use disorder benefits and provide clear guidance to plans and issuers on how to comply with the law’s requirements. In developing their proposals, the departments drew from their combined and individual experiences in enforcing the act and in working with plans and issuers, as well as state regulators.
The Department of Labor, in consultation with the departments of Health and Human Services and the Treasury, also issued a technical release today that requests public feedback on proposed new data requirements for limitations related to the composition of a health plan’s or issuer’s network.
With the proposed rules and technical release, the departments aim to promote changes in network composition and plans’ and issuers’ medical management techniques to make mental health and substance use disorder provider networks more accessible and create parity in treatment limitations, such as network composition standards and prior authorizations, for people seeking mental health and substance use disorder treatment.