The Massachusetts Medical Society wishes to be recorded in
strong support of Senate bill 588 and House bill 910, An Act relative to
mental health parity implementation.
Patients in Massachusetts enjoy strong protections to ensure
parity between their coverage of physical and mental health care through both
federal and state mental health parity laws.
The Medical Society shares growing concern that a lack of enforcement of
these laws has inhibited the realization of mental health parity that many of
these laws sought to achieve upon their passage. We believe Senate bill 588 is
an important step forward in assuring strong mental health parity in the
Commonwealth.
This bill would not amend existing mental health parity
laws; rather, it would increase reporting by health insurers of information
that would more easily allow for enforcement of violations of existing mental
health parity laws, and it would require the Division of Insurance, the primary
authority of enforcement of these laws, to comprehensively enforce these laws
and report on the results.
As we move further in time past the initial passage of
mental health parity legislation, many of the most obvious examples of mental
health parity violation have been corrected. What remains of potential mental
health parity violations is often thought to involve the nonquantitative
aspects of mental health coverage that are less obvious and less easy to prove.
This legislation is important as it prompts the disclosure of information that
can help detect these softer, more nuanced violations—or help show that parity
has been achieved.
As the entire health care system works to make strides to
improve the provision of comprehensive, integrated behavioral health, it is
important that we continue to ensure that mental health parity laws are
enforced to their fullest potential. For these reasons, the Massachusetts
Medical Society urges favorable reporting of Senate bill 588 and House bill 910.
In addition, MMS continues to strongly advocate for increased
coverage and decreased barriers to medications to treat opioid use disorder. We
strongly supported Chapter 258 of the Acts of 2015 to reduce prior authorizations
for these medications, so we of course support S.609, An Act to provide
equal access to medication assisted treatment which would ensure coverage
of all three forms of medication treatment. In a public health crisis of such
severity, a lack of insurance coverage should never be the barrier that
prevents patients from receiving affordable access to treatment.
