The Supreme Court
ruled on June 28 to uphold the majority of the federal health care reform law,
the Affordable Care Act (ACA), including important protections for people with
mental illnesses. Thanks to the ruling, Utah will be able to continue moving
forward to establish a health insurance exchange, which under the law, must
include coverage for mental health care and must adhere to the mental health
parity law. People buying health insurance in these exchanges may qualify for
premium subsidies or financial help to ensure they can afford the coverage they
need.
Utah will also be able
to go ahead with plans to expand to Medicaid to cover all who have annual
incomes up to 138 percent of federal poverty guidelines ($15,400) and who are
not certified as disabled. Many of the people who will benefit from
this change, which takes effect in 2014, live with a mental illness but are not
considered 'disabled' and this is an important move to ensure they can access
the treatment and services they need.
The court's decision
will mean that children and young adults can remain on their parent’s health
insurance plans until age 26 as well. This is typically the largest group of
people who are without insurance and an age when people often experience their
first psychotic episode. New plans will
also have to offer preventive services, such as mental health screenings, at no
cost to the individual. The court’s
ruling will ensure people will be able to access the screening and treatment
they need, when they need it. The court
also upheld a provision barring insurance companies from denying people
coverage because they have a pre-existing condition, including a mental
illness. This means that people will no longer be unable to obtain health
insurance simply because they live with a mental illness nor will they be able
to be charged much higher premiums based on their health status. The ruling is
a huge victory for the mental health community and NAMI Utah applauds the
Supreme Court for upholding these important provisions of the health reform
law. For a detailed analysis of the implications of the decision, visit SCOTUSBlog.
For additional reading on the ACA and mental health care in Utah click HERE.
For additional reading on the ACA and mental health care in Utah click HERE.
