Findings from University of Maryland Broaden Understanding of Health and Society (Federal Parity Law Associated With Increased Probability Of Using…

Findings from University of Maryland Broaden Understanding of Health and Society (Federal Parity Law Associated With Increased Probability Of Using Out-Of-Network Substance Use Disorder Treatment Services)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Health & Medicine Week -- New research on Health and Medicine is the subject of a report. According to news reporting out of Baltimore, Maryland, by NewsRx editors, research stated, "The Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 requires commercial insurers providing group coverage for substance use disorder services to offer benefits for those services at a level equal to those for medical or surgical benefits. Unlike previous parity policies instituted for federal employees and in individual states, the law extends parity to out-of-network services."

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of Maryland, "We conducted an interrupted time-series analysis using insurance claims from large self-insured employers to evaluate whether federal parity was associated with changes in out-of-network treatment for 525,620 users of substance use disorder services. Federal parity was associated with an increased probability of using out-of-network services, an increased average number of out-of-network outpatient visits, and increased average total spending on out-of-network services among users of those services."

According to the news editors, the research concluded: "Our fmdings were broadly consistent with the contention of federal parity proponents that extending parity to out-of-network services would broaden access to substance use disorder care obtained outside of plan networks."

For more information on this research see: Federal Parity Law Associated With Increased Probability Of Using Out-Of-Network Substance Use Disorder Treatment Services. Health Affairs, 2015;34(8):1331-1339. Health Affairs can be contacted at: Project Hope, 7500 Old Georgetown Rd, Ste 600, Bethesda, MD 20814-6133, USA (see also Health and Medicine).

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting E.E. McGinty, University of Maryland, Sch Med, Psychiat, Baltimore, MD 21201, United States. Additional authors for this research include S.H. Busch, E.A. Stuart, H.A. Huskamp, T.B. Gibson, H.H. Goldman and C.L. Barry.

Keywords for this news article include: Maryland, Baltimore, United States, Network Services, Health and Medicine, North and Central America

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