The Kennedy Forum on Parity

The Kennedy Forum is committed to the full implementation and enforcement of the Parity Law.

The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA or Parity Law) promised equity in the insurance coverage of mental health and substance use disorder care, but years later mental health parity is still not a reality and too many Americans continue to be denied care when they need it the most. To fulfill the promise of the Parity law, we must hold health insurance plans accountable to comply with the letter and spirit of the law.

Parity enforcement still lacks federal authority,

May 21, 2018 , by Julie Miller, Editor in Chief, Behavioral Healthcare Executive

excerpt from above article:              In a report to Congress in April, the Department of Labor (DOL) illustrated the current status of parity implementation. Out of 671 health plan investigations, 378 included reviews of parity compliance, resulting in 136 citations.

As many behavioral health executives know first-hand, suspected parity violations by insurers are not uncommon, and remedies aren’t particularly straightforward.

“We’ve been working on parity for decades, even before the Affordable Care Act and before the opioid crisis,” says Andrew Kessler, JD, founder and principal of Slingshot Solutions. “It’s clear to a lot of us that parity is going to be played out in the courts.”

 

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