"A new Obama administration rule requires insurers to cover treatment for mental health and substance abuse no differently than they do for physical illnesses....
"Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says nearly 60 percent of people with mental health conditions and nearly 90 percent with substance abuse disorders don't receive the treatment they need.
"For way too long, the health care system has openly discriminated against Americans with behavioral health problems," Sebelius said in a telephone conference call with reporters. "We are finally closing these gaps in coverage."...
"The rule puts into effect legislation signed into law five years ago. Mental health parity also is required under the Obama administration's health care overhaul, the Affordable Care Act. Officials at America's Health Insurance Plans, a trade group, said they were still reviewing the new rule....
"Gil Kerlikowske, director of the National Drug Control Policy Office at the White House, said the new rule builds on the need to treat drug problems as a public health issue and not just as a criminal justice issue. He said about 23 million Americans have a substance abuse disorder, but only about one in 10 get the treatment they need....
"Former Rep. Patrick Kennedy went public about his own struggle with addiction after crashing his car into a barricade near the Capitol in 2006; he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder after winning election to Congress in 1994...."
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-11-parity-mental-health-coverage.html
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