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04/24/2018

Parity@10: Parity Act Knowledge and Practice Survey

The Ohio Psychiatric Physicians Association is participating in/working with the Ohio Parity@10 Campaign to disseminate a provider knowledge survey.

The goal of the Parity@10 Campaign is to expand access to mental health and substance use disorder services through strong enforcement of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act. The Ohio Parity Coalition is working with five national organizations—Legal Action Center, The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, The Kennedy Forum, Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, and Public Health Management Corporation—on this campaign. The national organizations have drafted this survey with local input.

The provider knowledge survey will help us better understand what providers of mental health and substance use services know about the federal Parity Act. Results will be used to develop educational materials and strategies designed to assist providers in utilizing parity laws to expand patient access to care.

We are asking that you and as many staff as possible complete this survey. This may include staff who provide direct clinical services or administrative support as well as senior leadership. 

Please share this email widely within your organization. We would like many different types of providers (e.g., social workers, physicians, psychologists) and staff members (e.g., billing specialists, program directors, benefits coordinators) to take the survey. This will give us the best understanding of what parity education or technical assistance may be the most helpful to different individuals who are involved in the delivery of treatment services.

The survey can be accessed by clicking on http://bit.ly/provider_survey and takes approximately 15 minutes to complete.

If you have questions about the survey, please contact Archana Bodas LaPollo at Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC) at archana@phmc.org<mail and for technical difficulties, please contact Hannah Savage at PHMC at hsavage@phmc.org.

 

Ohio Mental Health Parity Report

Parity@10 is a three-year campaign to establish effective models for robust enforcement of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act in 10 states, including Ohio, and to disseminate those models across the country. The campaign’s goal is to ensure insurance carriers and state Medicaid programs offer fully parity compliant substance use and mental health benefits and to put an end to a complaint-driven enforcement model that forces consumers to fight for the evidence-based health care they need and are entitled to receive.

The campaign, which also marks 10 years since the Parity Act was signed in 2008, is being spearheaded by the Legal Action Center, The Kennedy Forum, The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, and the Research and Evaluation Group at Public Health Management Corporation. In Ohio, the Ohio Council of Behavioral Health and Family Service Providers is leading the coalition.
 
The coalition has responded to the Ohio Department of Insurance report on parity which claims violations are limited in Ohio and cites as evidence that ODI only received seven consumer complaints related to mental health parity in 2017. This response got the attention of the Akron Beacon Journal which published editorial citing a different study showing the follow-through in Ohio has not been sufficient.

Coalition members have met with ODI leadership and discussed the complaint process and how providers can support patients filing complaints. The coalition also wants to focus on educating providers on parity and filing complaints with ODI along with tackling the process with the Ohio Department of Medicaid and the managed care plans. - See more at: https://ohiohospitals.org/News-Resources/Newsletters/Finance-News/OHA-partners-with-Stakeholders-to-Address-Behavior.aspx#sthash.MbfN4Z6D.dpuf

Akron Beacon Journal Article

Parity@10 is a three-year campaign to establish effective models for robust enforcement of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act in 10 states, including Ohio, and to disseminate those models across the country. The campaign’s goal is to ensure insurance carriers and state Medicaid programs offer fully parity compliant substance use and mental health benefits and to put an end to a complaint-driven enforcement model that forces consumers to fight for the evidence-based health care they need and are entitled to receive.

The campaign, which also marks 10 years since the Parity Act was signed in 2008, is being spearheaded by the Legal Action Center, The Kennedy Forum, The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, and the Research and Evaluation Group at Public Health Management Corporation. In Ohio, the Ohio Council of Behavioral Health and Family Service Providers is leading the coalition.
 
The coalition has responded to the Ohio Department of Insurance report on parity which claims violations are limited in Ohio and cites as evidence that ODI only received seven consumer complaints related to mental health parity in 2017. This response got the attention of the Akron Beacon Journal which published editorial citing a different study showing the follow-through in Ohio has not been sufficient.

Coalition members have met with ODI leadership and discussed the complaint process and how providers can support patients filing complaints. The coalition also wants to focus on educating providers on parity and filing complaints with ODI along with tackling the process with the Ohio Department of Medicaid and the managed care plans. - See more at: https://ohiohospitals.org/News-Resources/Newsletters/Finance-News/OHA-partners-with-Stakeholders-to-Address-Behavior.aspx#sthash.MbfN4Z6D.dpuf
Parity@10 is a three-year campaign to establish effective models for robust enforcement of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act in 10 states, including Ohio, and to disseminate those models across the country. The campaign’s goal is to ensure insurance carriers and state Medicaid programs offer fully parity compliant substance use and mental health benefits and to put an end to a complaint-driven enforcement model that forces consumers to fight for the evidence-based health care they need and are entitled to receive.

The campaign, which also marks 10 years since the Parity Act was signed in 2008, is being spearheaded by the Legal Action Center, The Kennedy Forum, The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, Partnership for Drug-Free Kids, and the Research and Evaluation Group at Public Health Management Corporation. In Ohio, the Ohio Council of Behavioral Health and Family Service Providers is leading the coalition.
 
The coalition has responded to the Ohio Department of Insurance report on parity which claims violations are limited in Ohio and cites as evidence that ODI only received seven consumer complaints related to mental health parity in 2017. This response got the attention of the Akron Beacon Journal which published editorial citing a different study showing the follow-through in Ohio has not been sufficient.

Coalition members have met with ODI leadership and discussed the complaint process and how providers can support patients filing complaints. The coalition also wants to focus on educating providers on parity and filing complaints with ODI along with tackling the process with the Ohio Department of Medicaid and the managed care plans. - See more at: https://ohiohospitals.org/News-Resources/Newsletters/Finance-News/OHA-partners-with-Stakeholders-to-Address-Behavior.aspx#sthash.MbfN4Z6D.dpuf

 

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