Wyden: “It’s a start towards addressing the mental health parity challenges that I intend to build on… especially for too many Oregonians who are unable to find available mental health professionals covered in their insurance networks.”
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator and Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden today released a discussion draft of his mental health parity bill, which includes policies aimed at improving mental health parity in Medicare and Medicaid and helping to put access to mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) services on par with physical health care. Mental health parity includes a set of laws aimed at ensuring mental and physical health care are covered equally by health insurance.
“Whether it’s in aisles of the grocery store or during one of my 1,027 town halls, I hear too often from Oregonians that mental health is not treated with the same urgency as physical health,” Wyden said. “These policies represent the first step towards addressing the mental health parity and ghost network challenges that I intend to build on in the coming months — especially for too many Oregonians who are unable to find available mental health professionals covered in their insurance networks. I’m proud that the finance committee has been able to come together throughout the year to release a whole host of policies aimed at improving mental health care for Americans, some of which have already become law, but more must be done. I will keep breaking down barriers to ensure that all Oregonians—all Americans—can access mental health care when they need it.”
Policies in the discussion draft include:
1. Strengthening the accuracy of provider directories in Medicare Advantage plans.
2. Strengthening requirements in Medicaid for managed care organizations and states to maintain regularly updated provider directories that include, in part, information on accessing care from behavioral health professionals.
3. Direct GAO to conduct a study of the differences in enrollee cost-sharing and utilization management between behavioral and non-behavioral health services in Medicare Advantage and compared to traditional Medicare.
4. Require Medicare to provide guidance to health care providers detailing the extent to which Medicare beneficiaries with substance use disorders can receive partial hospitalization program services.
5. Direct GAO to report on Medicaid payment rates for behavioral health services compared to medical and surgical services across a sample of states.
This discussion draft on mental health parity is the fifth and final legislative draft the Finance Committee has released since kicking off its bipartisan mental health initiative. The first, released in May, focused on telehealth policies. The second, released in June, focused on youth mental health. The third, released in September, focused on expanding the mental health care workforce. The fourth, released in November, focused on integrating physical health and mental health care providers
The full text of the discussion draft is available here. A summary of all provisions released by the committee as a part of the bipartisan mental health effort, including mental health parity, is available here.