Premium
The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act Evaluation Study: Impact on Nonquantitative Treatment Limits for Specialty Behavioral Health Care
Author(s) -
Thalmayer Amber Gayle,
Harwood Jessica M.,
Friedman Sarah,
Azocar Francisca,
Watson L. Amy,
Xu Haiyong,
Ettner Susan L.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
health services research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.706
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1475-6773
pISSN - 0017-9124
DOI - 10.1111/1475-6773.12871
Subject(s) - equity (law) , prior authorization , health care , specialty , actuarial science , mental health , health care financing , managed care , parity (physics) , inpatient care , business , medicine , economics , family medicine , nursing , political science , psychiatry , physics , particle physics , law , economic growth
Objective To assess frequency, type, and extent of behavioral health ( BH ) nonquantitative treatment limits ( NQTL s) before and after implementation of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 ( MHPAEA ). Data Sources Secondary administrative data for Optum carve‐out and carve‐in plans. Study Design Cross‐tabulations and “two‐part” regression models were estimated to assess associations of parity period with NQTL s. Data Collection/Extraction Methods Optum provided four proprietary BH databases, including 2008–2013 data for 40 carve‐out and 385 carve‐in employers from Optum's claims processing databases and 2010 data from interviews conducted by Optum's parity compliance team with 49 carve‐out employers. Principal Findings Preparity, carve‐out plans required preauthorization for in‐network inpatient/intermediate care; otherwise coverage was denied. Postparity, 73 percent would review later by request and half charged no penalty for late authorization. Outpatient visit authorization requirements virtually disappeared. For carve‐out out‐of‐network inpatient/intermediate care, and for carve‐ins, plans changed penalties to match medical service policies, but this did not necessarily lead to fewer requirements or lower penalties. Conclusion After 2011, MHPAEA was associated with the transformation of BH care management, including much less restrictive preauthorization requirements, especially for in‐network care provided by carve‐out plans.