April 03, 2010
Good News April 2010
Federal Healthcare Bill Includes Major Addiction and Mental Illness Provisions
On March 23, 2010 the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” became law expanding healthcare to tens of millions of Americans who are currently uninsured. The law is a ground-breaking expansion of addiction and mental health coverage for prevention, treatment and recovery.
The new law includes a number of provisions aimed at improving coverage for and access to substance use disorder and mental illness prevention, treatment, and recovery services.
- Includes substance use disorder and mental health (SUD/MH) services as required benefits in the basic benefit package for individual and small business health plans.
- Requires that all plans in the health insurance exchange comply with the Wellstone/Domenici Parity Act in providing SUD/MH benefits in the same way as all other covered medical and surgical benefits.
- Expands Medicaid eligibility for all Americans up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level and requires newly eligible parents and childless adults receive coverage that includes SUD/MH services provided at parity.
- Includes SUD and MH prevention strategies and efforts in the bill’s chronic disease initiatives.
The final legislation creates a National Prevention Council, of which the Director of the Office of National Drug Control will be a member. The National Prevention Council is required to submit a report to Congress, and substance use disorders are listed as a national priority that must be included in the report
For additional background and analysis of the impact of the law on prevention, treatment and recovery, visit www.lac.org. The Legal Action Center is a non-profit, whose sole mission is to fight discrimination against people with histories of addiction, HIV/AIDS, or criminal records, and to advocate for sound public policies in these areas.