Summary
When the Wellstone-Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act passed in 2008, the behavioral health industry celebrated an important, but short-lived legislative victory, followed by a year of wrangling and months of delay as regulators detailed the rules needed to implement the Act in the field. In a report on California's parity experience published in the journal Psychiatric Services, consumers complained that some plans used "aggressive" medical management techniques to deny coverage or made referrals to mental health providers that were closed to new patients.
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Parity Rules: Worth the Wait?
When the Wellstone-Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act passed in 2008, the behavioral health industry celebrated an important, but short-lived legislative victory, followed by a year of wrangling and months of delay as regulators detailed the rules needed to implement the Act in the field. As the Act's interim final rules hit the street in January, the parity battle is beginning anew, albeit in its final phase.
"What is becoming clear to most of us is that we have to be in this for the long haul," says Ron Hunsicker, CEO and president of the National Association of Addiction Treatment Provid...See the full content of this document
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