Earlier this month, the CEO Alliance for Mental Healthopens in new window issued a statement rebuking the erisa Industry Committee’s (eric’s) decision to sue the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury to challenge key aspects of the 2024 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (mhpaea) final rule. The CEO Alliance is a group of CEOs of leading organizations dedicated to improving the lives of people with mental health and substance use conditions. APA’s CEO Arthur C. Evans, Jr., PhD, is a member of the group.
APA Services strongly embraced the final parity rules that were issued in the fall of last year, which this lawsuit threatens. On February 20, eric asked the Trump administration to stay enforcement of the Biden Administration’s recently finalized mental health parity rule while its lawsuit over the rule is pending.
APA Services endorsed the final rule because of various provisions that would advance parity enforcement, including a provision challenged in the lawsuit that would require insurers to take reasonable corrective actions if outcomes data show that mental health patients have less access to care than medical patients.
We need to advance access to care, not fight progress. In fact, eric’s lawsuit coincides with the 2024 MHPAEA Report to Congress (PDF, 6.2MB)opens in new window, which found that, since 2021, mhpaea oversight helped more than 7 million Americans access mental health/substance use care. Key findings in the report include a continued focus on network adequacy and an emphasis on examining provider reimbursement rates. The report also noted that utilization management tools, especially prior authorization, continue to be the most common area of noncompliance.
The CEO Alliance stands ready to work with all interested parties who are serious about addressing the behavioral health crisis, as hundreds of thousands of lives are lost each year. Ultimately, the rule’s flexibility and clarity will streamline parity compliance as the regulators work closely with the insurers to collaboratively clarify and address any potential compliance issues.
For more information, contact Julio C Abreu.