The statement comes as congressional committees hold hearings on mental healthcare, according to a Feb. 1 news release.
The Labor Department has also been watching mental health parity enforcement, delivering a report to Congress of current enforcement failures and corrective efforts. The department aims to work with HHS to improve payer parity enforcement.
In the AMA’s letter to Congress, the group supported four tenets outlined by the Labor Department’s report, including allowing the department to fine payers for noncompliance, allowing plan members to recoup losses tied to parity denials, requiring insurers to submit parity compliance analyses and expanding telehealth access.
“This report underscores two simple facts: insurers will not change their behaviors without increased enforcement and accountability, and patients will continue to suffer until that happens,” AMA CEO James Madara, MD, wrote in the letter.
At the Becker's 5th Annual Fall Payer Issues Roundtable, taking place November 17–19 in Chicago, payer executives and healthcare leaders will come together to discuss value-based care, regulatory changes, cost management strategies and innovations shaping the future of payer-provider collaboration. Apply for complimentary registration now.
