Enforcing Mental Health Parity: State Options to Improve Access to Care

By, JoAnn Volk, Emma Walsh-Alker, and Chrstina L. Goe

The United States is facing a behavioral health crisis, but many people struggling with mental health or substance use disorder are unable to access treatment—even if they have health insurance. The 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) is the primary federal law that aims to protect access to behavioral health care for privately insured Americans. But enforcing the law’s protections can be challenging, and recent analyses have found that many health insurers are still not fully compliant with MHPAEA.

In a new issue brief for the Commonwealth Fund, CHIR experts interviewed insurance
regulators in ten states to identify the tools state regulators are using for MHPAEA oversight and enforcement, as well as the barriers they are facing. The brief outlines state approaches to improving access to behavioral health care by leveraging MHPAEA, in addition to other important consumer protections such as network adequacy standards.

You can read the full issue brief here.