American Society of Addiciton Medicine

ASAM Joins Letter Supporting Strengthened Parity Requirements for Self-Funded, Non-Federal Governmental Health Plans


On May 11th, ASAM and other stakeholders sent a letter to U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee leadership praising Section 321 of the Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act of 2022, which would sunset the ability of self-funded, non-federal governmental health care plans to opt-out of protections provided by the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008. According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, about 200 state and local government plans have opted out of these mental health and substance use disorder parity protections.  This can have devastating consequences for these frontline workers and their family members