FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Traci Patterson
Director of Communications
713-523-8963 x 476
Email: tpatterson@mhahouston.org
www.mhahouston.org
HOUSTON, TX (January 29, 2010)—The Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and the Treasury today released the interim final rules for the Wellstone-Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008. The guidance released is an interim final rule and comments are being solicited. Comments are due May 3, 2010, and the new rules are effective for plan years beginning on or after July 1, 2010.
The parity law requires that any group health plan that covers more than 50 employees and offers mental health and/or substance use disorders coverage must provide that coverage with no greater financial requirements (i.e., co-pays, deductibles, annual or lifetime dollar limits) or treatment limitations (i.e., number of visits) than the predominant requirements that it applies to substantially all medical/surgical benefits.
In addition to the requirements for out-of-pocket costs and benefit limits, the newly issued rules require equality in the areas of prior authorization and utilization review. According to the Departments issuing the new rules, “these practices must be based on the same level of scientific evidence used by the insurer for medical and surgical benefits. For example, a plan may not apply separate deductibles for treatment related to mental health or substance use disorders and medical or surgical benefits-they must be calculated as one limit.”
“Twenty percent or 1 out of 5 individuals in Houston and across the nation are living with a mental illness. Discriminatory insurance coverage has often prevented people from accessing critically needed treatment. Federal policy is now mandating that insurance benefits reflect scientific knowledge. Mental illnesses are real illnesses that can be effectively treated, the same as all other illnesses. We having been looking forward to the release of these regulations,” said Betsy Schwartz, president and CEO of Mental Health America of Greater Houston.
Prior to the passage of the Parity Act, Mental Health America of Greater Houston led the nation by encouraging insurance equity among Houston-based corporations. Since 2001, these efforts have resulted in more than 200,000 employees receiving parity at the following companies: The Houston Chronicle, ConocoPhillips, CenterPoint, Energy Weingarten Realty Investors, Gallery Furniture, Devon Energy Corporation, St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, Conn’s Appliances, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, El Paso Energy, The Houston Texans, FMC Technologies, Plains Exploration & Production Company, Halliburton and KBR.
It is estimated that 552,000 adults in Harris County have a mental illness. Over half of the adults in Harris County with a severe mental illness have no public or private health insurance and are completely dependent on the public mental health service system for treatment.
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