AMA applauds White House mental health parity recommendations

The American Medical Association welcomed today the final recommendations from the White House's Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity Task Force that outline policies to boost compliance with mental health parity laws. With the recommendations in place, the onus is on state officials and payers to implement the recommendations.

The AMA has long supported parity for mental health coverage and advocated for provisions in the Affordable Care Act and the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act to ensure that health insurance plans treat mental health and substance use disorders the same way they treat other health conditions. President Obama established the task force in March and asked federal agencies to work together to ensure that consumers are benefiting from the mental health and substance use disorder parity protections under the law.