In letters written on February 26, Ohio Academy of Family Physicians President Anna McMaster, MD, and OAFP Public Policy Committee Chair Sarah Sams, MD, expressed strong support for Senate Bill (SB) 254 and House Bill (HB) 443, companion bills regarding mental health and substance abuse parity.
SB 254 is assigned to the Senate Insurance and Financial Institutions Committee for hearing; Senator Bob Hackett (R-London, OH) chairs that committee. HB 443 is assigned to the House Health Committee for hearing; Representative P. Scott Lipps (R-Franklin, OH) chairs that committee.
Passage of SB 254 and/or HB 443 would ensure that Ohioans have access to mental health and substance abuse treatment by prohibiting insurers from covering illnesses of the brain more restrictively than illnesses of the rest of the body. Ohio law currently does not align with federal law and this legislation would result in that much needed alignment.
In the letters to both committee chairs, Drs. McMaster and Sams state, “Family physicians are on the front lines of mental health treatment. We receive extensive training in caring for patients with depression and mental illness. Because of the trusted relationship we already have with our patients and the comprehensive scope of family medicine, we are in a critically unique position to identify brain health disorders early and provide appropriate interventions, which could include consultation with a psychologist or psychiatrist. In fact, if not for the mental health care provided by family physicians, nearly one in five adults in the United States who experience some form of mental illness in a given year would go untreated.”
The letters conclude, “For this reason, family physicians understand the harm that occurs when insurers cover brain illnesses more restrictively than illnesses of the rest of the body. It is for this reason that the OAFP wishes to express its strong support for SB 254 and HB 443; we would welcome the opportunity to offer proponent testimony before the Insurance and Financial Institutions Committee.”
To date, SB 254 has had two hearings with proponent testimony.