Researchers at Columbia University Release New Data on Mental Health Diseases and Conditions (Enforcement of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act: State Insurance Commissioners’ Statutory Capacity): Mental Health Diseases and Conditions

2023 AUG 22 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Health Policy and Law Daily -- Fresh data on Mental Health Diseases and Conditions are presented in a new report. According to news reporting originating in New York City, New York, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “State insurance departments enforce the federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) for fully insured employer-sponsored health plans and plans on the individual marketplace. Variable enforcement among states may drive patients’ difficulties in accessing behavioral health treatment.”

Financial supporters for this research include NIH National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Center for Qualitative Studies in Health and Medicine at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from Columbia University, “This study explored insurance commis-sioners’ statutory capacity for enforcing the MHPAEA. Legal mapping of insurance office powers and re-sponsibilities was conducted for MHPAEA-enforcing states. Relevant state laws and regulations were gathered from the Westlaw database. Sections were coded in the categories commissioner selection, frequency of examinations, fines, licenses, subpoenas, investigations and hearings, rehabilitation or liquidation of insurers, and initiation of legal actions. The sample included 450 sections of states’ codes and regulations. The 46 states that enforced the MHPAEA showed only small differences in the powers and responsi-bilities of insurance commissioners.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Similarities across states in statutory capacity of commissioners suggest that it is not a primary source of variation in MHPAEA enforcement.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Enforcement of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act: State Insurance Commissioners’ Statutory Capacity. Psychiatric Services, 2023;74(6):652-655. Psychiatric Services can be contacted at: Amer Psychiatric Publishing, Inc, 800 Maine Ave SW, Suite 900, Washington, DC 20024, USA.

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Rachel Presskreischer, Columbia University, Mailman School of Public Health, Dept. of Epidemiology, New York, NY 10032, United States. Additional authors for this research include Colleen L. Barry, Adria K. Lawrence, Alexander McCourt, Ramin Mojtabai and Emma E. McGinty.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.20220210. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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