The Kennedy Forum tagged posts

Kelly O’Brien, The Kennedy Forum Illinois

When the historic Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (“Federal Parity Law”) was enacted, Americans expected to have fewer barriers to access mental health and addiction services, and expected that behavioral health benefits would be provided on par with other medical/surgical health plan benefits. As Tim Clements of ParityTrack shared in a previous CFYM post, it is largely the state regulatory agencies that are responsible for implementing and enforcing the Federal Parity Law. Unfortunately, it’s now eight years since MHPAEA became law, and most states have not fulfilled that obligation, including Illinois. The result is that health plan beneficiaries continue to be denied access to behavioral health services and remain unaware of their right to access care as a part of their health plan’s covered benefits.

Authored by former Congressman Patrick J. Kennedy, founder of The Kennedy Forum, the law requires health insurance plans to guarantee that financial requirements and limitations on treatment benefits for mental health or substance use disorders are no more restrictive than the insurer’s requirements and restrictions for medical and surgical needs. The Affordable Care Act (sometimes known as Obamacare) expanded the Federal Parity Law to apply to even more health insurance plans.

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Tim Clement, Policy Director, ParityTrack

For most of the history of modern American health care, mental health treatment was not covered by insurance the same way other medical treatment was covered. Insurance plans often implemented arbitrary and restrictive annual and lifetime limits on inpatient days and outpatient visits. Copayments and coinsurance rates were often far higher than they were for other medical care. Separate and more expensive deductibles for mental health care were the norm.

Thankfully, the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (the Federal Parity Law) made this form of separate and unequal insurance coverage illegal. The Federal Parity Law prohibits insurance plans from imposing treatment limitations and financial requirements that are more restrictive for mental health and substance use disorder treatment than those used for the treatment of other medical conditions.

The good news is that health insurance coverage that discriminates against people with behavioral health conditions is now against the law. The bad news is that nearly a decade after President George W. Bush signed this landmark piece of legislation into law, insurance coverage for treatment of mental illness and addiction still is not on par with insurance coverage of other medical conditions.

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In 1996, then-First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton elevated the saying, “It takes a village,” in talking about the various outside influences of caring for and raising children. All politics aside, the impact of thousands of communities in treating patients with mental illnesses cannot be overstated – everyone has a role to play and how we go about addressing these illnesses will have far-reaching societal implications. This was the primary focus of a morning panel discussion at today’s Kennedy Forum in Boston.

Collaboration doesn’t exist without education. Panel Moderator Chelsea Clint...

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Care For Your Mind is here today at The Kennedy Forum, and the daylong conference kicked off early this morning with the first panel discussion that looked at the historical significance of President Kennedy’s mental health initiative. This month marks the 50^th anniversary of President Kennedy’s signing of the Community Mental Health Act, a law that provided federal funding for community mental health centers in the United States. In addition, it helped raise the conversation around mental illness in this country.

Mental Health and the Civil Rights Movement

The discussion focused on exami...

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On Thursday, leaders from the mental health advocacy community will gather in Boston, MA for the Kennedy Forum, a conference established to advance the national conversation around mental health care and advocate for policies that will improve our nation’s mental health care system. Panels and conversations at the conference will focus on creating new avenues for treatment for those affected by mental illness and other disabilities.

Honoring President John F...

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