Mental Health Care Parity: The Issue of Enforcement
Mental health care parity without proper enforcement is about as effective as speed limits would be without adequate policing. And while it would be nice to think that the existence of a law would mean compliance, that is as naïve as thinking that people always...
Medicaid and Mental Health: The Problem of IMD Exclusions
As we’ve discussed previously, mental health parity is a law that sounds good in theory, but in reality providers run into obstacles at every turn. Lack of access, enforcement, and reimbursement disparities are well-documented issues within mental health. But in...
Barriers to Mental Health Services: Beyond Mental Health Parity
Access to mental health services is a significant issue for individuals in the US, even for those who have adequate health insurance. As we discussed in our article “Mental Health Care Parity (20 Years Later),” parity may be the law, but access to mental...
Comorbidity: Mental Health as a Risk Factor in Chronic Diseases
Improving patient outcomes is a goal for providers and insurance companies alike. For providers, taking care of patients is the essence of what they do, and medicine is always seeking ways to make improvements that benefit patients. For insurance companies, the...
Mental Health Care Parity (20 Years Later) – A Goal That We’re Far From Achieving
It’s been over a decade since The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act sought to level the playing field between medical and mental health benefits. With some exceptions, health plans are required to provide the same coverage for medical and mental...
Telehealth: Come for the Pandemic, Stay for the Benefits
The current pandemic forced most organizations to rethink how they interact with the public. Beyond requiring masks and providing hand sanitizers, the impact of COVID-19 has necessitated some fundamental shifts that may very well continue post-pandemic. Businesses are...
Post-COVID Stress Disorder
The mental health impact of COVID-19 has been a topic of discussion since the earliest days of quarantine. It was feared and assumed that people who were already prone to depression and/or anxiety would be put at further risk. But as the days and weeks turned into...