Researchers’ Work from University of Georgia Focuses on Drug Policy (The United States’ Federal Parity Act and treatment of substance use disorders:…

Politics & Government Week

Researchers' Work from University of Georgia Focuses on Drug Policy (The United States' Federal Parity Act and treatment of substance use disorders: Administrators' familiarity and perceptions of impact)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Politics & Government Week -- Research findings on Drug Policy are discussed in a new report. According to news reporting originating from Athens, Georgia, by VerticalNews correspondents, research stated, "The 2008 Wellstone and Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) aims to secure parity in private insurance coverage between behavioral and other medical disorders in the United States (U.S.). This legislation represents an important change in the operating field of substance use disorder treatment, but to date, its impact on treatment centers has not been widely examined."

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from the University of Georgia, "The current study measured the extent of center leaders' familiarity with the MHPAEA and their perceptions of its overall impact on their centers. Using a nationally representative sample of treatment centers in the U.S., we examined the extent of MHPAEA familiarity and its perceived impact as reported by treatment center leaders. We further employed logistic and ordered logistic regressions to determine personal and organizational characteristics associated with their reported familiarity and experienced impacts, including changes in the number of privately-insured clients seeking treatment and in the treatment coverage of those clients. We found that dissemination of parity information was low. Only 36% of administrators reported high levels of familiarity and 16% used professional sources of information. The majority of administrators (71%) reported no impact of the legislation on their organization, but those that reported any impact were more likely to state positive impact. Greater parity knowledge and perceived positive impacts were associated with administrator and organizational characteristics indicative of greater access to industry-specific knowledge, a medical model orientation, and reliance on private insurance revenue. This study demonstrates that dissemination of parity information is lacking and that the majority of leaders have yet to experience an impact of the MHPAEA. Leaders of centers with more sophisticated structures are most likely to be familiar with the legislation and perceive a positive impact."

According to the news editors, the research concluded: "Research concerning the effective management of treatment centers, including environmental scanning techniques, continues to be needed."

For more information on this research see: The United States' Federal Parity Act and treatment of substance use disorders: Administrators' familiarity and perceptions of impact. International Journal of Drug Policy, 2016;34():80-87. International Journal of Drug Policy can be contacted at: Elsevier Science Bv, PO Box 211, 1000 Ae Amsterdam, Netherlands. (Elsevier - www.elsevier.com; International Journal of Drug Policy - www.journals.elsevier.com/international-journal-of-drug-policy/)

The news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting of Georgia, Owens Inst Behav Res, Athens, GA 30602, United States. Additional authors for this research include L. Aletraris, P.M. Roman, D.L. Fields and B.E. Bride.

Keywords for this news article include: Athens, Georgia, United States, North and Central America, Drug Policy, Drugs and Therapies, University of Georgia.