Lawmakers urge health insurers to enforce new Mental Parity Act

The Hill: "Health plans that say mental illnesses can't be treated like physical ailments are relying on an 'outdated argument' without merit that does not reflect 'three decades of scientific research,' 52 House members wrote in a recent letter to regulators. The comments come as a landmark law requiring parity in how health plans cover physical and mental illness went into effect Thursday. … The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, [signed into law in 2008] requires that large-group health plans that offer mental health and substance-use disorder coverage do so on parity with their medical and surgical coverage. … The law applies to plan years starting Thursday, but some actuaries say most health plans aren't ready" (Pecquet, 7/1).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.