The White House is taking steps to lower
Under guidelines announced Monday, a new rule will require hundreds of health plans to make changes when they are providing inadequate access to mental health and substance use care. The plans will have to evaluate their provider networks, how much they pay out-of-network providers, and how often they require — and deny — prior authorizations.
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The proposal seeks to build on the 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, which required insurance companies to provide the same access to mental and physical treatment..
When the bill passed, it didn't require some nonfederal governmental health plans, like those offered to state and local government employees, to comply with its requirements. More than 200 additional health plans will now have to comply with the 2008 act, providing critical protections to 120,000 consumers.
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"Mental health care is health care. But for far too many Americans, critical care and treatments are out of reach," President Joe Biden said in a statement. "There is no reason that breaking your arm should be treated differently than having a mental health condition. The steps my administration is taking today will dramatically expand access to mental health care in America."
The 2008 act requires that mental health and substance use disorder coverage must be comparable to medical and surgical coverage if a health plan provides mental health coverage.
"People are really not getting the care that they need because they have to spend so much of their own money," Neera Tanden, Biden's domestic policy adviser, said on a call with reporters.
