WASHINGTON, DC - The Subcommittee on Health, chaired by Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-PA), today held a hearing examining federal mental health parity laws and regulations.
Members examined Title VIII of the Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, authored by Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Tim Murphy (R-PA), as well as additional mental health and substance use disorder parity laws, and relevant reporting from the president’s task force, and other legislation.
“Since there seems to be ongoing discussions on protections as envisioned in the mental health parity laws previously enacted, it is timely for this committee to consider ways to streamline the mental health parity system," Chairman Pitts commented. “With more than 11 million Americans who suffer with severe mental illness such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression, this issue is vitally important for individual patients as well as families seeking appropriate care for their loved ones."
Among today’s witnesses was Pamela Greenberg, MPP, President and CEO of the Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness. Greenberg stated, “It is critical to recognize that differences do exist between behavioral health and physical health in order to ensure that the best quality, evidence based care is being provided to consumers. Parity is important, but so is quality; and we have to make sure that we are not so rigid with our implementation of parity that we end up compromising on quality care for consumers."
