Health plans continue to violate the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, which prohibits unfair mental health and addiction coverage by health insurance plans.
The U.S. Department of Labor is tasked with making sure health plans cover mental health and physical health equally (parity) for over 130 million Americans, but it cannot sufficiently enforce this act or impose penalties on health insurers who violate the law. And because of this, health plans and health insurance issuers are failing to deliver parity for mental health and substance use disorder benefits to those they cover.
Fixing the enforcement issue will help families across the country who don’t have time to fight red tape while going through a crisis. Without proper coverage of mental health and substance use resources, millions of Americans will needlessly suffer. It’s frustrating that we passed the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act into law, yet so few get the mental health and substance use services they need.
To deter parity violations before they occur, the Department of Labor must be allowed to hold plans accountable.
When we talk about improving mental health resources, a big part of the puzzle is ensuring parity is enforced in our mental health and addiction coverage.
Parity is foundational for fair access to mental health and addiction services. It requires insurers to provide the same level of benefits for mental and substance use treatment that they do for medical or surgical care.
It’s okay to not be okay. If you or someone you know needs help, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). Crisis Text Line also provides free, 24/7, confidential support via text message to people in crisis when they text HOME to 741741.
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