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eNewsletter - March 30, 2010
New health care law expands access to care
The historic health care legislation signed into law by President Obama will dramatically expand benefits and coverage for people with addiction. When the law is fully implemented, 32 million Americans who are uninsured today will have access to health insurance coverage, including for addiction. The new law builds on the principle of equity for addiction with other health conditions in the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 and marks significant progress in making it possible for many more Americans to get the help they need to recover from addiction.
Some of the key provisions include:
- Includes substance use disorder services are required benefits in basic benefit package for individual and small group market.
- Requires that all plans in the health insurance exchange comply with the Wellstone-Domenici Act so that substance use disorder service and mental health benefits are provided in the same ways as all other covered medical and surgical benefits.
- Expands Medicaid eligibility to 133% of the poverty limit and requires eligibility for low-income adults without dependent children, people who have been excluded until now. Substance use disorder and mental health services must be included as part of the benefits package for all newly-eligible Medicaid enrollees.
- Includes insurance reforms and consumer protections critical for individuals seeking or in recovery, including prohibiting insurers from denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions including addiction, charging higher premiums based on health status, and placing annual or lifetime caps on insurance coverage.