TY - JOUR
T1 - Factors Affecting State-Level Enforcement of the Federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act
T2 - A Cross-Case Analysis of Four States
AU - Presskreischer, Rachel
AU - Barry, Colleen L.
AU - Lawrence, Adria K.
AU - McCourt, Alexander
AU - Mojtabai, Ramin
AU - McGinty, Emma E.
N1 - Funding Information:
Rachel Presskreischer gratefully acknowledges support from the National Institute of Mental Health (T32MH109436) and the Johns Hopkins Center for Qualitative Studies in Health and Medicine.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 by Duke University Press.
PY - 2023/2/1
Y1 - 2023/2/1
N2 - Context: The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) requires coverage for mental health and substance use disorder (MH/SUD) benefits to be no more restrictive than for medical/surgical benefits in commercial health plans. State insurance departments oversee enforcement for certain plans. Insufficient enforcement is one potential source of continued MH/SUD treatment gaps among commercial insurance enrollees. This study explored state-level factors that may drive enforcement variation. Methods: The authors conducted a four-state multiple-case study to explore factors influencing state insurance offices’ enforcement of MHPAEA. They interviewed 21 individuals who represented state government offices, advocacy organizations, professional organizations, and a national insurer. Their analysis included a within-case content analysis and a cross-case framework analysis. Findings: Common themes included insurance office relationships with other stakeholders, policy complexity, and political priority. Relationships between insurance offices and other stakeholders varied between states. MHPAEA complexity posed challenges for interpretation and application. Policy champions influenced enforcement via priorities of insurance commissioners, governors, and legislatures. Where enforcement of MHPAEA was not prioritized by any actors, there was minimal state enforcement. Conclusions: Within a state, enforcement of MHPAEA is influenced by insurance office relationships, legal interpretation, and political priorities. These unique state factors present significant challenges to uniform enforcement.
AB - Context: The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) requires coverage for mental health and substance use disorder (MH/SUD) benefits to be no more restrictive than for medical/surgical benefits in commercial health plans. State insurance departments oversee enforcement for certain plans. Insufficient enforcement is one potential source of continued MH/SUD treatment gaps among commercial insurance enrollees. This study explored state-level factors that may drive enforcement variation. Methods: The authors conducted a four-state multiple-case study to explore factors influencing state insurance offices’ enforcement of MHPAEA. They interviewed 21 individuals who represented state government offices, advocacy organizations, professional organizations, and a national insurer. Their analysis included a within-case content analysis and a cross-case framework analysis. Findings: Common themes included insurance office relationships with other stakeholders, policy complexity, and political priority. Relationships between insurance offices and other stakeholders varied between states. MHPAEA complexity posed challenges for interpretation and application. Policy champions influenced enforcement via priorities of insurance commissioners, governors, and legislatures. Where enforcement of MHPAEA was not prioritized by any actors, there was minimal state enforcement. Conclusions: Within a state, enforcement of MHPAEA is influenced by insurance office relationships, legal interpretation, and political priorities. These unique state factors present significant challenges to uniform enforcement.
KW - mental health parity
KW - regulatory enforcement
KW - state health policy
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U2 - 10.1215/03616878-10171062
DO - 10.1215/03616878-10171062
M3 - Article
C2 - 36112956
AN - SCOPUS:85147045731
SN - 0361-6878
VL - 48
SP - 1
EP - 32
JO - Journal of health politics, policy and law
JF - Journal of health politics, policy and law
IS - 1
ER -