Leaders from the U.S. Departments of Labor and Health and Human Services met May 3 with health insurance and business leaders to discuss how they complied with federal law that requires benefits coverage to match how medical or surgical benefits are covered.
U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra spoke about compliance with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, according to a May 4 release.
“Since the start of the Biden-Harris administration, enforcement of mental health and substance use disorder parity laws has been one of the Department of Labor’s top priorities,” Walsh said, according to the release.
The discussion came as the nation observes Mental Health Awareness Month, the release reported. It questioned if in-network providers and mental health and substance use disorder treatment was adequate during the pandemic.
“Group health plans and insurers must be able to show us that they are providing mental health treatment coverage the way the law requires,” Walsh said, according to the release. “We are grateful to have had this earnest conversation and look forward to learning more about the work health plans and insurers are doing to achieve parity and increase access to care.”
The nation has no hope of transforming mental health, increasing access to care and reducing the stigma associated with it without true parity for mental and behavioral health services, Becerra said, according to the release.
“Parity in mental and behavioral health services is a basic right. It’s a right I have long fought for in my career, and now as HHS Secretary where across my department and in partnership with my colleagues, I am committed to aggressively advancing,” he said in the release.
