Amplify: Biden-Harris Administration Improving Access to Mental Health Care

Oct 1

In a bold action, the Biden-Harris Administration is now requiring health plans to step up their game when it comes to providing quality mental health care. While the 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) was enacted to make sure people seeking mental health and addiction care do not face greater barriers to treatment than those faced by people seeking treatment for medical and surgical conditions, many Americans still lack access to critical care in these areas.

The Administration’s new rule will require health plans to evaluate their current network of providers and assess where they need to make changes to meet the standards. The new rule will also prevent health plans from implementing stricter authorization requirements or narrowing networks to make it harder for patients to access mental health care.

Why it matters:

Less than half the adults and nearly 70% of children who needed mental health care actually received the treatment they needed in 2020
Patients are nearly four times as likely to go out of network for mental health care than they are for physical health care–burdening the patient with high out-of-pocket costs.
The problem has only gotten worse in recent years, with the gap between out-of-network care for mental health care and physical health care increasing 85%
This announcement will impact 175 million Americans with private health insurance

On the new rule Vice President Harris noted,

“President Biden and I are committed to ensuring that every person in our country has the mental health care they need to thrive. That is why we made the largest investment in youth mental health in history and are transforming how mental health is understood, perceived, and treated for all Americans.