Behavioral health insurance parity: does Oregon's experience presage the national experience with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act?

ABSTRACT:

Objective

The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 prohibits commercial group health plans from imposing spending and visit limitations for mental health and substance abuse services that are not imposed on medical-surgical services. The act also restricts the use of managed care tools that apply to behavioral health benefits in ways that differ from how they apply to medical-surgical benefits. The only precedent for this approach is Oregon's state parity law, which was implemented in 2007. The goal of this study was to estimate the effect of Oregon's parity law on expenditures for mental health and substance abuse treatment services.

Method

The authors compared expenditures for commercially insured individuals in four Oregon health plans from 2005 through 2

SUBMITTER: McConnell KJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3263406 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature