Agencies urged to continue to close coverage gaps for mental health, substance use disorder benefits

AHA applauded the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Treasury on revised requirements in the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act proposed rule which proposes specific provisions to improve oversight and enforcement including an emphasis on network adequacy and prohibition of commercial health plans efforts to restrict mental health or substance use disorder benefits.
 
“We appreciate the efforts of the joint departments over the past few years to establish distinct guidelines for what health plan issuers may and may not do in terms of designing and administering benefits and believe that the provisions proposed in this rule will further close coverage loopholes and help ensure that patients can access the care they need,” AHA wrote. “We acknowledge that developing a robust, highly specialized network of providers is a daunting task considering the severe shortages of behavioral health providers across the country; however, these shortages and gaps in coverage will persist without further action.”
 
AHA urged the agencies to work with Congress to invest in the behavioral health workforce to ensure network adequacy provisions can be met.