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Congressional Push: Expanding mental, behavioral health care access

The World - 3/25/2023

Mar. 24—Nearly one in five American adults suffer from mental illness; one in four older adults reported having anxiety or depression; and more than four in ten high school students felt persistently sad or hopeless.

And despite around a quarter of Medicare beneficiaries living with a mental illness, only less than half receive treatment, according to a release from Oregon U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, who is Chair of the Senate Finance Committee overseeing Medicare and Medicaid.

The 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act extended mental and physical health care parity to private and employer-provided plans, but plans provided by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services were not subject to this requirement. This leaves the 60 million seniors covered by Medicare and many of the 90 million people enrolled in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program unable to benefit from the parity requirements.

Wyden and Michael Bennet have introduced legislation that would expand access to mental and behavioral health care for Oregonians and all Americans on Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Medicare Part D, and Medicaid.

Wyden said mental health care should be affordable, reliable and accessible for everyone.

"For too long, mental health care has taken a back seat to physical health in the United States," Wyden said. This bill begins to tip the scales by applying mental health parity protections across the health care system, and strengthening penalties on insurance companies that flout the rules. This legislation will help Oregonians and those struggling with their mental health nationwide get the care they need when they need it. I'll keep fighting to make mental health parity a reality in this country."

The Better Mental Health Care for Americans Act addresses this gap and removes unnecessary obstacles for low-income kids and seniors to access the mental health care they need.

What the proposed legislation is designed to do:

* Require parity for mental and behavioral health services in Medicare Advantage, Medicare Part D, and Medicaid.

* Ensure Medicare Advantage plans maintain up-to-date provider directories so beneficiaries can access care more easily.

* Encourage mental and behavioral health integration with physical care by increasing reimbursement rates for Medicare and Medicaid.

* Increase access to integrated mental and behavioral health care for children in schools.

* Require the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to develop and implement plans to better align payments, measure access and quality, and improve prevention services for mental and behavioral health care.

"Mental Health America applauds Senators Bennet and Wyden for their comprehensive bill to transform our fractured and ineffective mental health system by incentivizing integrated primary care, requiring accurate provider directories, and extending parity protections," Mental Health America President and CEO Schroeder Stribling said. "These provisions make impactful changes to address the ongoing mental health and substance use crisis."

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