LogixHealth Analyzes New Mental Health and Substance Abuse Parity Regulations for Medicaid and CHIP

BEDFORD, MA--(Marketwired - Mar 31, 2016) - LogixHealth, a leading provider of internet and software enabled coding, billing, analytics and management services for hospital and physician practices nationwide, provides services for millions of Emergency Department (ED) visits across 35 states, and has analyzed the implications of the Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity Rule for Medicaid and CHIP.

On March 29^th The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized a rule strengthening access to mental health and substance abuse services for Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) beneficiaries. Medicaid and CHIP provide millions with free or low-cost health coverage, and will be aligning its coverage with protections already required of private health plans. The enhanced coverage builds on the 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, which is a federal law that originally applied to group health plans and group health insurance coverage and was later amended by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to apply to individual health insurance coverage.

HHS Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell said, "Today's rule eliminates a barrier to coverage for the millions of Americans who for too long faced a system that treated behavioral health as an unequal priority."

The protections set forth in this final rule will benefit over 23 million people enrolled in Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs), Medicaid alternative benefit plans (ABPs), and CHIP, representing an important expansion. State flexibility is maintained, including the opportunity to use innovative solutions such as prepaid inpatient health plans or prepaid ambulatory health plans.

"This expansion of coverage builds on the prior 2008 Parity Act, as well as the Affordable Care Act, and expands mental health and substance abuse coverage for key state-run plans in an effort to continue to harmonize benefits", states Michael Granovsky MD, CPC, FACEP, President of LogixHealth.

The final rule is currently available at https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection and is published in the March 30, 2016 Federal Register.

About LogixHealth:
LogixHealth, a leading provider of internet and software enabled coding, billing, analytics and management services for hospital and physician practices nationwide, provides services for millions of Emergency Department (ED) visits across over 35 states. We provide tools and resources to optimize financial performance and improve the quality of care. For more information, visit www.logixhealth.com.