The Biden administration plans to crack down on health insurance plans that discriminate against people who need mental health care and substance abuse treatments.
A proposed rule published Tuesday by the Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury departments aims to push health insurers to comply with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act.
That law, which was passed in 2008, requires insurance plans that cover mental health care and substance abuse treatments to offer the same level of coverage for these services as they do for other illnesses.
Insurance plans often do not provide enough therapists in network, which forces patients to seek care out of network and pay more.
More than one in five adults in the U.S., or 58 million people, live with a mental illness, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
Persons:
Neera Tanden, Tanden
Organizations:
Biden, Health, Human Services, Labor, Treasury, Mental, House, National Institute of Mental Health
Locations:
U.S