In September 1996, the Mental Health Parity Act was signed into law to address variations of annual and lifetime dollar limits for mental health benefits vs. medical and surgical. In the early 2000s, I chaired a coalition of provider groups, hospitals, and patient groups that advocated for an expansion of the 1996 law. In 2008, those efforts resulted in the enactment of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act. While this process has taken far too long - we must demand more for mental health care.
I am pleased to see the stigma of treatment begin to dissipate we have far too many youth in crisis that need care, too few professionals to provide care, and too few psychiatric beds for those that need inpatient care.
We must continue to demand more and reimbursement is only one hurdle to our mental health delivery system.
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