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The American Psychiatric Association and Vermont Psychiatric Association officials recently asserted that BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont is in violation of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 by setting reimbursement rates for psychiatrists below those for primary care and implementing restrictive prior authorization requirements. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont requires prior authorization for any visit beyond the 10th mental health visits. The previous president of VPA, Alice Silverman described the problem in Vermont, “ mental health care in Vermont has become a two-tier system. Wealthy patients can pay out of pocket, but working people who depend on their insurance have limited access to psychiatric care.”
Mental Health Toolkit Released by Connecticut Insurance Officials
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Connecticut residents now have access to a nine-page tool kit developed by the experts of UConn Health Center and insurance companies. The guide provides a list of questions mental health consumers should ask to ensure mental health and substance use disorder care is covered by their insurer. The kit also includes an Appeals Process Checklist. Officials created the document to address common issues in the claims process such as incomplete information or documentation problems. Check out the toolkit here.
Increase in Legislation Linked to Treatment Rates
After examining treatment rates of all known specialty substance use disorder treatment facilities, Benjamin Druss, M.D and Emory University colleagues discovered states that enacted parity legislation requiring parity for substance use disorder treatment before 2008 had an increase in substance use disorder treatment rates. Druss and colleagues also found the more comprehensive the parity law, the higher the rates of treatment for SUD in that states. States that implemented a SUD parity law, automatically increased the treatment rate by 9%. Researchers strongly believe that the federal parity law will have a positive effect on treatment rates as well. For more information on the study, visit http://ps.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleid=102169.