White House Says New Rule Will Improve Access to Mental Health and Substance Use Care

On Monday, the White House announced a final rule aimed at lowering costs and improving access to mental health and substance use care, CNN reports.

The rule states that mental health and substance use disorder care on private insurance plans should be covered at the same level as physical health benefits. According to a White House fact sheet, that may mean “adding more mental health and substance use professionals to their networks or reducing red tape for providers to deliver care.”

The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA), passed in 2008, requires that insurance plans that cover mental health do so at the same level as physical health. But insurers have often made it difficult for patients to access in-network care for mental health or substance use. Many people continue to pay high costs for such care. They frequently must go out of network and pay out of pocket, the article notes.

The new rule makes it clear that health plans need to evaluate their provider networks, how much they pay out-of-network providers and how often they require – and deny – prior authorizations. The outcomes of these evaluations will show plans where they are failing to meet the law’s requirements, and where they will need to make changes to come into compliance, the White House said.