MHPA Research Paper

People with mental illness have always been discriminated against; to have an exclusion such as this go through Congress without being repealed is reprehensible. The IMD Exclusion provides the states with financial incentives to provide substandard care, or no care at all. It encourages states to shift costs by placing mentally ill patients anywhere but psychiatric hospitals (Davoli, 2003).

Yet many people still aren't aware that the law exists or how it affects them. In fact, a 2014 APA survey found that more than 90 percent of Americans were unfamiliar with the mental health parity law (American Psychological Association). Many people might end up not receiving the appropriate therapeutic services that they need because their medical insurance does not cover it. However, medical insurance does cover some of it. For example, for physical therapy, some insurers require a referral from a doctor. People consider physical therapy to be a necessity as long as it's prescribed by a physician and significantly improves physical functions that were limited because of a disease, illness or surgical procedure. On the other hand, others do not consider physical therapy to be necessary for someone whose condition is getting worse or if the patient is not showing improvement. (Holmes). Many people question and ask themselves why doesn’t my insurance cover these needed services, and what can I do in order for my insurance to fully cover it? Unfortunately, many mental health provders do not accept insurance, more than likely because of the cost. Many insurance

The Mental Health Services Act is a monumental proposition that has helped many people for more than a decade. In California alone, close to 1.2 million adults and around 422,000 children live with a serious mental illness (State 2010). Without the proper treatment, suicide is the leading cause of death for a person battling an untreated mental illness (State 2010). With over thirteen billion dollars raised so far, MHSA has been the root of funding for mental health in California (Williams 2015). MHSA is still a work in progress. The act is nowhere near perfect, as a recent audit has shown, but it is certainly a step in the right direction.

Mental Health coverage prior to the Affordable Care Act was far to none. With about nearly one-third of currently covered individuals having no coverage for substance abuse disorder services and approximately 20% having no coverage for mental health services. Services such as outpatient therapy visits, impatient crisis intervention and stabilization were among many that were not offered. Since the Affordable Health Care Act has been passed more individuals are able to afford health insurance that were once uninsured. It has helped many individuals in being able to obtain medical services that were once inaccessible.

The purpose of the bill is to reduce state Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) allotments annually from fiscal year (FY) 2014 through FY 2020. The reduction will occur “at the same time as the Marketplace and Medicaid provide increased coverage options that will reduce uncompensated care levels for hospitals. State Medicaid programs make DSH payments to qualifying hospitals that serve a large number of low-income individuals.”

Senate (S.) 689 is the Mental Health Awareness and Improvement Act of 2013, which resanctions and increases critical behavioral health programs through superior federal education and healthcare programs related to awareness, early identification, and prevention of mental illness (The Library of Congress, 2013). United States Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) pioneered S. 689 on April 9, 2013 (The Library of Congress, 2013). There are 23 co-sponsors of the Mental Health Awareness and Improvement Act of 2013, including 14

Policy analysis of mental health care under the ACA as well as description of how mental health care/service are organized under the ACA from federal to local levels.

Regardless of where one stands, one must admit that the American economy is not thriving. Not only is it not thriving, but also the American economy has either been in depression or on the verge of depression for the last decade. Because of this, parity seems to be a dream. It is not the prime time to push for the ACA, perhaps during the 80’s or 90’s, but there were other political dilemmas that needed to be dealt with. Another factor to take into account is the reaction of the healthcare system once it truly has to cover for mental illness treatment. Because there is an immense amount of cost, around $131,000(Abelson), to

The cool, calm and collective Gunna who creates loud and phenomenal music. The in differ name, Gunna comes from his cousin who felt that the name Gunna is more suitable for his aptitude and lifestyle, so his previous stage name, Snypa was dismissed. Born and raised on the Southside of Chicago, Gunna took on a lot of knowledge from the streets that kept him focused on a career path in Hip Hop. Growing up listening to Jay- Z and Lil Wayne, he knew that he was capable of making great music. Being a part of the evolution of Hip Hop, his sound of music is different than the artists that he listens too. He is motivated by the love he have for music. He is passionate about his lyrics that limericks, gives energy and represents the realness in life.

The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) -The law amended the 1996 Mental Health Parity Act by extending the parity requirements to include substance use disorder benefits. In addition, the MHPAEA requires parity with respect to all financial requirements (cost-sharing such as deductibles, copayments, and co-insurance) and treatment limitations (day or visit limits) between medical and surgical benefits and benefits for mental health and substance use disorder services (Kongstvedt 608-609)

The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) is an act that requires parity or equality between mental health treatment and medical/surgical treatment covered by private and public insurers with over 50 employees. That means that if an insurance covers mental health issues they can’t impose more stringent limits and financial requirements than medical/surgical coverage. The act was signed into law in 2008 by President George W. Bush. Before the act was signed into law, mental health care was not as affordable or accessible for individuals. (United States Department of Labor, 2016)

I feel that even if the proposals become law it’s only the first step to fixing this problem. The article discusses some promises made by Kennedy in 1963 to subsidize mental-health services in every community. Kennedy signed a bill to create as many as 2000 community health centers, there are just 740 today. The insurance companies might feel a little better about supporting mental-health if they were presented with some comparisons of successful treatment between psychiatry and physical medicine. One such comparison given in the article is that 60% of those treated for schizophrenia can be successfully treated, while just 41% of those that have angioplasty can recover fully. There is a huge number of mentally ill that are homeless because they’ve gone untreated. They often turn to illegal drugs to ease there pain and confusion. In my opinion this problem should be addressed quickly. There are confused mentally ill people that have been forgotten about by society that are roaming the streets. These people can un-knowingly commit horrific crimes such as the man discussed earlier that pushed the women to her death in the New York subway. The

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).

In 2010, the Affordable Care Act invoked a $75 millon dollar demonstration project known as the Medicad Emergency Psychiatric Demonstration that was amended in section 2707 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The change seemed to be just what the nation needed, however, there was fine print added to the amendment that changed the interpretation. The fine print stated, patients who are on Medicaid from the ages of 21-65 seeking inpatient mental health care can receive treatment under the law. However, the inpatient facility will receive no

Mica, a key ingredient for the billion-dollar beauty industry, is mined by children in an impoverished region of India. While rich cosmetic companies count their cash children risk their lives to put the ‘sparkle’ into our cosmetics. Even though child labor is illegal it still happens more than you know. In the jungles of India the ground literally sparkles. Beneath the thick tropical forests which make a home for some of India’s poorest tribal communities, the earth is rich with valuable mica deposits. Although few people have heard of mica, it is a valuable mineral deposit used as an insulator in electronic goods, and also as the ‘secret ingredient’ in cosmetic products to give them their sparkle and shine. As per a report featured in