Overcoming barriers to mental health and substance abuse care

The Los Angeles Times

Together, the Mental Health and Addiction Parity Act of 2010 and the recently implemented Affordable Care Act should increase access to services for many Americans. However, consumers are sometimes still challenged to get the mental, behavioral, and substance abuse care to which they are legally entitled. Finding a mental or behavioral health provider who accepts health insurance and is covered by your plan is the first hurdle. Sometimes, providers are covered by your plan but do not offer the highest quality care (such as substance abuse treatment programs that make unrealistic claims of rapid results), warns Thomas McLellan of the nonprofit Treatment Research Institute. He also notes that some insurers are still not in compliance with the parity requirement, charging higher co-pays for psychiatric visits or managing inpatient care for mental illness more aggressively than for physical conditions. Inequities such as these can now be legally appealed with your insurer. In spite of these problems, many experts are optimistic. Andrew Sperling, director of federal legislative advocacy for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, said “People are likely to see their benefits for mental health and substance abuse improved dramatically.”