Equal Access to Mental Health and Addiction Treatment Services is Your Right
The 2008 Federal Parity Law requires insurers to cover illnesses of the brain, such as depression or addiction, no more restrictively than illnesses of the body, such as diabetes or cancer.
As rates of suicides and overdoses continue to climb nationwide, mental health parity is more important than ever. Unfortunately, many insurers are still not following the law.
WHY IS PARITY IMPORTANT?
Too often, people can’t get the help they need because of insurers’ overly aggressive managed-care techniques. Confused and overwhelmed with treatment costs that insurance won’t cover, many give up and suffer in silence. It is time to break that silence and shine a spotlight on a system that oppresses those with mental health and addiction challenges. Parity is now a human rights issue; it is time to demand change. Review the fact sheet below to learn more.
IS YOUR INSURANCE COMPANY BREAKING THE LAW?
Insurer violations of mental health parity laws can take many forms, including placing limits on how long and how often patients can receive care, providing insufficient networks of mental health providers, and more. Most people are unaware that a parity violation has even occurred. If you know what to watch out for, you will be better equipped to assert your rights. Click the image below to learn more about common parity violations and other important parity issues.
TAKE ACTION
Learn to File an Appeal – Insurers count on the fact that most people will not appeal denied claims or make an effort to challenge suspect managed-care practices. This is unacceptable. By learning to file an appeal, you will be taking the first step to holding your health plan accountable for equal access to mental health and addiction treatment services. Get started…
Register a Complaint Against Your Health Plan – We must pressure elected officials, insurance commissioners, and attorneys general to enforce parity laws. The best way to do that is through data illustrating what families face each day. No one chooses to have a mental health or substance use disorder. Don’t tolerate discrimination. Access to care is your right.
FOR PROVIDERS
By empowering your patients to understand and assert their parity rights, you can help to spark a movement that pressures elected officials, insurance commissioners, and attorneys general to enforce parity laws. Download and print our provider tip sheet, and ‘Don’t Deny Me’ posters and brochures for your office. Here are the files you will need:
Provider Tip Sheet to Get Started
Office Brochure for Professional Printing
Office Posters for Professional Printing
FOR ADVOCATES
The recent Wit v. United Behavioral Health (UBH) ruling was a major milestone in the fight for mental health equity. Learn more here. We must use its powerful message to remind our nation’s large employers that they share a fiduciary responsibility to ensure plan compliance with the Federal Parity Law. We must also remind them of their moral responsibility to stop illegal denials of treatment coverage for their employees with mental health and substance use disorders. Please use our template to send letters to large employers in your state.
FOR UNIONS
Equitable coverage of mental health and addiction care is critical both for union members and their dependents, just as it is for others. Unfortunately, despite the Federal Parity Law, regulatory actions, and numerous court decisions, health plans – including multiemployer defined benefit plans, Taft-Hartley plans, and multiple employer welfare arrangements – continue to deny coverage. Union leaders must help to ensure that the rights of their members are not be trampled. Review this issue brief to learn more and take action.
HAVING TROUBLE FINDING CULTURALLY COMPETENT CARE?
According to Mental Health America, a culturally competent mental health system “incorporates skills, attitudes, and policies to ensure that it is effectively addressing the needs of consumers and families with diverse values, beliefs, and sexual orientations, in addition to backgrounds that vary by race, ethnicity, religion, and language.” If you are unable to find a culturally competent mental health care provider within your network of care, we’d like to hear from you. Your voice can help to shine a spotlight on this critical issue and spark change.
