Statement attributable to Kelly J. Clark, MD, MBA, DFASAM, President of the American Society of Addiction Medicine; Patrice A. Harris, MD, MA, Immediate Past Chair, AMA Board of Trustees; Chair, AMA Opioid Task Force.

When a patient seeks mental health care or treatment for a substance use disorder, the law makes clear that health insurers and regulators have legal obligations to ensure patients’ access to non-discriminatory care. We are very pleased that the Parity@10 Compliance Campaign will be taking an in-depth look at the significant challenges and barriers to care patients face when seeking treatment. This includes health plan utilization management coverage restrictions—such as prior authorization for medication-assisted treatment (MAT)—and other issues ranging from inadequate networks and lack of access to timely referrals.

“The American Medical Association and American Society of Addiction Medicine receive regular reports of such barriers, underscored by the recent report from the Addiction Solutions Campaign, and we hope this new effort will provide important information for regulators and other elected officials to work with us to help end the nation’s opioid epidemic. We appreciate that some health insurers have taken steps to stop prior authorization for MAT, but ending the epidemic will require much more.  The new Parity@10 campaign is precisely the type of evidence-based effort to shine a light on much-needed state-based parity enforcement efforts.”