The American Medical Association (AMA) has expressed support for the Biden-Harris Administration's efforts to reinforce the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). The AMA highlighted the importance of this initiative in safeguarding patients from discriminatory practices by health insurance companies that limit access to mental health and substance use disorder care.

"The AMA commends the Biden-Harris Administration for their commitment to ensuring that the federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) has the teeth to protect patients from health insurance company actions that unfairly and too-often discriminatorily restrict access to mental health and substance use disorder care," stated an AMA representative.

While still assessing the final rule, the AMA voiced strong support for several key provisions aimed at enhancing transparency, oversight, and enforcement of MHPAEA. These include measures related to prior authorization processes and network adequacy.

"Health plans have violated MHPAEA for more than 15 years, and this final rule is a step in the right direction to protect patients and hold health plans accountable for those failures," added the representative.