ASAM Advocacy

The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Treasury issued interim final regulations under the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) on January 29, 2010. While the law went into effect October 3, 2009, these regulations go into effect April 5, 2010 and apply to plans starting on or after July 1, 2010. For more details related to the parity regulations, please review the Fact Sheet provided by the Departments listed above. If you have complaints or concerns regarding a covered group health plan’s compliance with these new regulations, please email them to Alexis Geier-Horan, ASAM's Government Relations Director, or download and complete this form. ASAM will continue to work with the regulators to ensure compliance is per the law and enforced.

You can also file your complaints with your state’s insurance commissioner.

Stay tuned for upcoming education opportunities on accessing these new benefits.

The American Psychiatric Association has also created a webpage to educate consumers and physicians about this new law and to monitor its implementation. [Mental Health Parity Watch]

As of the beginning of the new year, both the House and Senate have passed health care reform bills. Congressional leadership must now reconcile the two bills into one and have each chamber of Congress pass that combined bill before sending it to the President for his signature. To view a side-by-side comparision of the House and Senate bills, click here. [Side by Side Comparison]

20 ASAM members took to Capitol Hill on October 21, 2009. As a group, our members visited 50 differenct Congressional offices, 13 of which were with the Member of Congress. Members advocated for the inclusion of addiction treatment benefits and of funding for addiction medicine training in any final health care reform bill, as well as for prompt issuance of regulations supporting the federal mental health and addiction parity bill passed by Congress in October.

On June 22, 2009, President Obama enacted bipartisan legislation that gives the federal Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate the sale and marketing of tobacco products. It is hoped that this law will advances public health efforts to significantly reduce addiction to, and disability associated with, tobacco use in America.

The three House Committees with jurisdiction over health care reform, House Ways and Means, House Energy and Commerce, and House Education and Labor (the Tri-Committees) collaborated on one health care reform bill and introduced it on Friday, June 17. The three Committees each plan to hold hearing on the "Tri-Committee health care reform bill" the week of June 22, 2009.

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee introduced its version of health care reform legislation on June 9, 2009. This bill includes an employer mandate and a public insurance option. The HELP Committee has already begun its mark-up of the bill and expects to do so through the week of June 22, 2009.

Senators Max Baucus and Charles Grassley, Senate Finance Committee Chair and Ranking Member, respectively, issued three separate healthcare reform policy proposals that, together, offer healthcare reform policy alternatives. The first was offered on April 28 and addressed delivery reform. The second, issued on May 12, included policy options for expanding healthcare coverage. The third and final proposal, released on May 20, covers the financing aspect of helathcare reform. One of the finance options is an increase in the alcohol excise tax. ASAM sent a letter to Senators Baucus and Grassley endorsing this tax increase. A bill incorporting all three proposals is expected following the Congressional July 4 recess.

On Wednesday, February 4, 2009, President Obama signed into law a bill that reauthorized the government-funded State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). In addition to extending children’s health insurance to an additional 4 million children, this law also extends mental health and addiction parity to the SCHIP program. While the Congressional Budget Office estimates that this expanded coverage will cost the government an additional $32.8 billion, a 62 cent-per-pack increase in the cigarette tax should offset most of this.