Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equality Act (MHPAEA) The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equality Act (MHPAEA) amended the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the Internal Revenue Code, and the Public Health Service Act and was signed into law by President George W. Bush on October 2008. The first effective date for this act was on January 1, 2010 and required health insurance issuers and group health plans to ensure that treatment limitations and financial requirements, that are applicable to substance use disorders and mental health benefits, are no more restrictive than those limitations set by surgical or medical benefits (“The Mental Health,” 2010). Policy Analysis Karger and Stoesz (2010) were able to identify four key elements that made a policy analysis: historical background, problems that necessitated the policy, description, and analysis. These elements will help the worker, client, and all others who are potentially affected by the MHPAEA to understand the effectiveness of the policy in how it addresses substance abuse and mental health. Historical Background MHPAEA was originally applied to group health insurance and group health plans until it was amended by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act which was in turn amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 to …show more content…
Out of that population, 6.9%, or 16 million had at least one major depressive episode in the last year. This high prevalence of mental health issues has led to around $193.2 billion in lost revenue per year for American’s alone. The National Alliance on Mental Health (2002) has also speculated that serious mental illness, such as major depressive disorder, have accrued approximately $106.8 billion in healthcare expenditures and federally paid disability
The World Economic Forum asked a group of health economists to figure out the global costs and estimate the costs by 2030. Their estimate based on 2010 data showed mental disorders as the largest cost driver at $2.5 trillion in global costs in 2010 and projected costs of $6 trillion by 2030, The U.S. National Institutes of Health's yearly budget is only $31 billion. The U.S. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has an annual budget of $1.4 billion, which is a ten percent decrease when adjusted for inflation, meaning that there has been a drastic decrease in funding both clinical trials and regular treatment (Borenstein). Suicide led to about 40,000 deaths in 2011 (nearly the same number of deaths as breast cancer). However, depression (which leads to suicide) was the least-funded disease on the Vox.com chart.
H.R. 3171 deals with many issues surrounding the United States mental healthcare system in the United States. One of the larger changes is it would require fundamental changes to the current Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. This new directive requires the agency would be to test mental health policy would be tested, conduct research, and disseminate best-practices in mental health treatment according to scientific research. (U.S. Congress, 2013)
U.S. Public Health Service.(1999). The Surgeon General’s Report on Mental Health. Retrieved June,5,2000, from http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/mentalhealth/home.html
In the United States alone, 57.7 million individuals suffer from mental illness. These illnesses range anywhere from mood disorders to anxiety disorders or to personality disorders and so on (The Numbers Count: Mental Disorders in America). 18 to 25 year olds make up about 30% of these individuals alone (Survey Finds Many Living with Mental Illness Go Without Treatment). These individuals require care from medication to psychiatry or even to confinement. However, of these 57.7 million individuals with mental illness, studies have found that less than one in three of these individuals receive proper treatment (Studies Say Mental Illness Too Often Goes Untreated).
Sarata, Amanda K. "Mental Health Parity and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010." N.p., 28 Dec. 2011. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. .
A mental disorder, or illness, is defined as “a mental… condition marked primarily by sufficient disorganization of personality, mind, and emotions to seriously impair the normal psychological functioning of the individual” (Merriam & Webster, 2014). Mental illness affects approximately 1 of 4 people in the United States over the age of 18, or 26.2%. Of that 26.2%, six percent of them suffer from a mental disorder that is considered serious and 45% of them have characteristics that meet the criteria for more than one mental disorder. On any given day, 6.7% of United States citizens are suffering from depression, 1.5% are suffering from dysthymic disorder, 2.6% are exhibiting signs and symptoms of bipolar disorder, 1.1% are diagnosed with schizophrenia, 18.1% are suffering from anxiety, and 13.8% of the population are battling conditions such as eating disorders, attention deficient hyperactivity disorder, or a personality disorder (National Institute of Mental Health, 2014).
"The Numbers Count: Mental Disorders in America." NIMH RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2013. .
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The American Health Care Act doesn't want to expand anymore money towards mental health. Mental health treatment services need to be maintained but also expaned in order to keep the country's mental health needs. Melissa Warnke explains, "The House and Senate verisons of Trumpcare would both phase out funding for that expansion and cut Medicaid spending by almost a trillion dollars over a decade.
The Affordable Care Act was created to provide mental health coverage for those who cannot afford it but actions are being taken to get rid of what is benefiting
The Numbers Count: Mental Disorders in America. Retrieved February 13, 2011, from National Institute of Mental Health: http://www.nimh.nih.gov. Weiten, W., & Lloyd, M. A. a. The adage of the adage of the adage of the Psychology of Applied Modern Life. Canada: Thomson and Wadsworth, Inc.
Cassano, P. Fava, M. (2002). Depression and public health: an overview. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 53, 849–857. Retrieved from http://www.psychology.com/resources/depression.php
Perhaps most substance abuse starts in the teen years when young people are susceptible to pressure from their peers. One of the main concerns when dealing with substance abuse is the long term problems with substance such as addiction, dependency and tolerance. The physical state of an individual, who is addicted to a substance, will deteriorate over a long period of time. This is due to the chemicals that are being put into an individual body. One of the most important aspects of the effect of substance abuse on society includes ill health, disease, sickness, and in many cases death. The impact of substance abuse not only affects individuals who abuse substances but it affects our economy. Our government resources are negatively impacted by individual who abuse substances. According to (Lagliaro 2004) the implication of drug users extend far beyond the user, often damaging their relationships with their family, community, and health workers, volunteer and wider
Mental and behavioural disorders (expressed in disability adjusted life years, or DALY'S) represented 11% of the total disease burden in 1990, and this is likely to rise to 15% by 2020. Five of the 10 leading causes of disability worldwide in 1990 were mental or behavioural disorders. Depression was the fourth largest contributor to the disease burden in 1990 and is expected to rank second after ischaemic heart disease by 2020. It is estimated that one in four people will develop one or more mental or behavioural disorders in their life-time and that one in four families has one member suffering from a mental or behavioural disorder (Murray et al., 1996; WHO,
Today, the numbers of people with mental health issues are considerably high. The problem increases the national and global social and economic burdens as governments try to find means of empowering the people with the issue and solve the problem. Today, one in five adults in the United States has a mental health problem (“Mental Health Facts,” 2016). “Mental Health Facts” (2016) also states that the adults that received mental health services are about 60%. Only 50% of the youth with mental health issues received mental health services in the previous year. Further, mental health issues are also related to drug use and addiction. Of all the mental illnesses and disorders, depression affects the most people and has the biggest burden globally. Due to the increasing burden and the gap in service utilization, the mental health policy seeks to address several factors. Some of the key issues to address include early diagnosis of mental disorders, provision of appropriate and adequate intervention a particular problem, education and counseling for the family members, and research to help reduce the numbers and reverse the trend. Another key area of focus is the use of mass media to create awareness about mental health issues and help clear the