Cheryl has been diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, and Alcohol Use Disorder. When asked about her concerns for post discharge she states that she has been heavily reliant on her parents and their health benefits for her treatment and that she is nervous that she may not have coverage to continue therapy. She reports that she felt safe knowing that “Obamacare” would be in place to help her afford the treatment she needs to stay mentally healthy and sober. She states that she is concerned about the possible repeal of the Affordable Care Act because she will need help paying for her mental health expenses. The Affordable Care Act made a giant leap in extending the work of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act. These two acts work together to ensure that treatment for mental illness is accessible to many Americans that need treatment. Throughout this paper I …show more content…
Historical Background In order to discuss the Affordable Care Act as it relates to mental health and addiction there needs to be an understanding of the historical development of mental health parity in the United States. There has been a long time struggle to make mental health comparable physical health in health benefits. In 1996 the Mental Health Parity Act (MHPA) was passed due to the crusade efforts of Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici under the Presidency of Bill Clinton (Frank, Goldman, & McGuire, 2001). The Mental Health Parity act was designed to ensure that large employers that provided health plans did not use lower limits on lifetime dollar amount for mental health in comparison to physical health (Frank, Koyanagi, & McGuire, 1997). In order to continue to build on the MHPA the congress passed the
The implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will only hasten changes that were on the horizon for pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms. Pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries new there was going to be some type of healthcare reform so they began to take the necessary precautions to prepare. There are vital provisions in the ACA related to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry affecting Medicare and Medicaid. Legislation in the ACA will provide provision to reduce cost for brand name prescriptions (Rx); this will reduce drug cost for patients, but increase rebates and discounts for pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms, therefore, imposing cost to the firms. The pharmaceutical and biotech industry was instrumental
Mental health coverage has become a particularly notable topic in Indiana, made salient in the wake of the Scott County HIV outbreak related to needle sharing and the underlying issue of the unaddressed opioid crisis. (source, Source) An important response to the outbreak was Medicaid enrollment and treatment for both HIV and addiction (Source). Before the Affordable Care Act (ACA), many low-income adults could not afford health insurance that covered
With the Advent of the Affordable Care Act, came many changes throughout the medical industry, changes happened in hospitals, health insurance, and doctors. Doctors, more than any other group seem to be affected in a number of way, from the amount of patients, from the increased number of people with insurance plans. It also changed the way a doctor interacts with other parts of medicine. There are some questions arising from this such as; would doctors approve or disapprove of these changes along with do these changes affect the doctors' ability to practice. For the most part, there is no difference the way doctors practice or to their income, but it does have doctors utilize their abilities towards medicine rather paper pushing which could have doctors prefer the post-ACA medical community rather than before.
The healthcare system underwent reformation in 2010 in the form of The Affordable Care Act. The main goal of the ACA was to extend health care throughout the nation; irrespective of this intention, some people regard the Affordable Care Act as being paternalistic. Chapter 9 covers the issue of how ethical the imposition of new restrictions on people by the ACA is.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has survived both constitutional and statutory challenges which reached the United States Supreme Court. But opponents of the law are far from defeated. A large number of cases are still pending throughout the country.
The Affordable Care Act includes a requirement that all citizens must have some level of health coverage. The primary method through which the mandate is attempting to create 100% coverage in health care is by instilling fear into the minds of hardworking citizens as those who ignore the rule will have to pay a hefty fine. This mandate, unconstitutional according to the law, will deteriorate the quality of health care, hamper economic growth and cause spikes in insurance premiums. The hope of universal health care may or may not arise under the mandate but new dilemmas and hardships on U.S. citizens will undoubtedly surface.
According to the National conference of Country legislature, the 50 state-owned legislatures cooperatively "create thousands of health strategy verdicts each year," not comprising the verdicts prepared by native administrations, which often direct hospitals, and secluded organizations, such as underwriters. These verdicts can comprise budget annexations, requests for doctors attaining their authorizations, which amenities are enclosed by assurance, how individual health information is accomplished and which inoculations children must obtain, among many others.
The Affordable Care Act, which expanded access to affordable healthcare across the country, has excluding coverage to the almost twelve million undocumented immigrants living in the United States (Nevarez, 2014). Excluding these members of the country has left it nearly impossible to obtain healthcare needs for these individuals. State laws suggest, undocumented immigrants are not allowed any assistance including federal subsidies in order to purchase medical coverage. Undocumented immigrants are also restricted against personally purchasing healthcare coverage through an insurance company, which leaves few options to obtain proper medical care (Nevarez, 2014). Statistics have found that over half of the undocumented population residing in
Large employers will soon face additional challenges in the reporting and compliance of health care benefits for their employees. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), more commonly known as the Affordable Care Act, has new reporting requirements for the counting and tracking of all employees. Without understanding the new rules, large employers face substantial tax penalties if they aren't compliant.
You may know that recently our company has adopted new health care policies due to the recent implementation of the Affordable Health Care Act. FixIt would like to inform you of some of the changes made in response to this new bill. Through our new health care provider we will be able to provide the same benefits for a lower price point, 15 percent lower to be precise. The only difference with our new provider is we will no longer be able to provide exercise, weight-loss, and smoking-cessation classes. We know many of you appreciated these class and the sudden cancelation is disappointing, but these classes are not being entirely dissolved. Instead we will now be providing these classes at an employee discount rate of $35/month at the nearby
The framework of the PPACA allowed many individuals to receive better care. Implementing the PPACA was designed to profoundly enhance access to mental health services and expand coverage for uninsured Americans for federal agencies, businesses, states, and individuals. Health insurance corporations are unable to refuse coverage to anyone who has a pre-existing condition. When President Obama signed the PPACA into law, it was first and foremost intended to decrease the number of uninsured individuals in this nation. A vast proportion of Americans are covered through private insurances with an increase of 6.7 million newly enrolled citizens since 2014. In 2014, there was about 64% of Americans who was already covered through private insurances (Horgan et al., 2016). The PPACA provides an opportunity to bolster a broken mental health system that disproportionately ignores the needs of older adults.
The Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) was enacted on October 3, 2008 as sections 511 and 512 of the Tax Extenders and Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2008. MHPAEA amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the Public Health Service Act (PHS Act), and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (Federal Register, 2013). The MHPAEA is an extension of the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996, which prohibited annual or aggregate lifetime financial limits on mental health coverage by addressing other restrictions, such as limits on outpatient visits or inpatient days (DOL, 2010). MHPAEA expands parity requirements to treatment limitations, financial requirements, and in- and out-of-network covered benefits (Smaldone, 2010). It also expands the opportunity of mental health parity requirements at the federal level and includes substance use disorders within its scope. Prior to 1996, health insurance coverage for mental illness had historically been less generous than that of other physical illness (Sarata, 2011). Mental health parity is a response to this disparity in insurance coverage, and generally refers to the concept that health insurance coverage for mental health services should be offered equally with covered medical and surgical benefits (Smaldone, 2010).
March 23, 2010 is a significant date for the United States. Following a long and controversial political and legislative process President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) into law. This pushed for the most significant changes to the United States health care system since Medicare and Medicaid back in 1965. The main stance of the act is to offer affordable benefits for all people including those who cant afford it. The Affordable Care Act includes a series of reforms that positively expand on the existing system of employer-sponsored insurance (ESI). It creates new requirements for individuals, employers, health care providers, and insurance companies (French, 2016). The ACA includes multiple strategies to target different populations and increase insurance coverage. It has offered many changes to medical benefits, treatments, as well as the quality of life. Specifically under the ACA, benefits for those who are struggling with a substance use disorder are mandated. One of those expansions in the ACA is the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (Advanced Recovery, 2016). This act ensures that insurance companies offer coverage for mental health disorders and treatment. A brief yet significant statement in the ACA states those with substance use disorders will be classified as suffering from a mental health disorder. The coverage for those who have struggled with an addiction allows for understanding on how
Policy plays a key part in mental health care services available to the public. They can determine what options and treatments are available and how much an individual will pay for them. Recent policies including the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008, the Affordable Care Act, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act work to expand access to coverage. It is important to know how policies play a role in the health care that individuals receive.
Preceding the enactment of the Affordable Care Act and the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, approximately forty-nine million individuals in the United States were uninsured. The Mental Health Parity and Addictions Equity Act (MHPAEA) does not command or require coverage for mental