Statement from Governor Hassan on Federal Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity Task Force Report

Press Release

Governor Maggie Hassan issued the following statement on the report released yesterday by the White House Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity Task Force:

"Providing parity for mental health and substance misuse treatment is critical to ensuring that people can access the treatment and care that they need, which is integral to our comprehensive strategy to combat the substance misuse crisis. Thousands of Granite Staters have accessed behavioral health and substance misuse services through the coverage provided by our bipartisan health care expansion plan, and earlier this year, we also began providing parity for behavioral health and substance misuse treatment for our traditional Medicaid population.

"While our work across party lines to increase access to treatment -- such as reauthorizing the bipartisan New Hampshire Health Protection Program, providing parity for our traditional and providing additional resources for treatment and recovery programs -- represents important progress, we know that we still have more work to do to help ensure that those battling addiction can access the treatment that they need."

Increasing access to treatment is a critical component of Governor Hassan's comprehensive strategy to combat the heroin, opioid and fentanyl crisis, which also includes supporting law enforcement and strengthening prevention and recovery efforts. This year, the Governor has signed bipartisan legislation cracking down on fentanyl, limiting prior authorization requirements for treatment, making improvements to New Hampshire's prescription drug monitoring program, requiring all prescribing boards to update prescribing rules for opioids, establishing a statewide drug court program, providing funding to upgrade technology for the prescription drug monitoring program and providing $5 million in additional resources for prevention, treatment and recovery as well as supportive housing.

The Governor's first budget proposal in 2013 included behavioral health and substance misuse coverage parity for the traditional Medicaid population, which went into effect as part of the current bipartisan budget this July. The Governor also fought to establish and reauthorize the bipartisan New Hampshire Health Protection Program, which has provided substance misuse and behavioral health services to thousands of Granite Staters, and she has worked to revise licensing requirements to make it easier for providers to open treatment facilities and to increase access to medication-assisted treatment in New Hampshire.

In addition, the New Hampshire Department of Insurance has been working to review state-regulated insurance companies' compliance with regulations that require parity for substance abuse and mental health treatment.

Source