The New York Times (1/10, Carrns, Subscription Publication) “Your Money” column reports that the Affordable Care Act and rules to fully implement the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 are expected to provide improvements and greater availability of “insurance coverage for mental conditions and addictions.” The ACA “includes mental health care and substance abuse treatment among its 10 ‘essential’ benefits, which means plans sold on the public health care exchanges must include coverage.” What’s more, “the parity law says that when health insurance plans provide coverage for mental ailments, it must be comparable to coverage for physical ailments.”
Related Links:
— “Understanding New Rules That Widen Mental Health Coverage, “Ann Carrns , The New York Times, January 9, 2014.