The Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity Bill is a favorable legislation towards improving mental health in the state. The Texas state law signed into action by Governor Abbot aims at solving the problems with mental health and substance abuse among the Texan citizens. It was named House Bill 10 and passed in September 2017 during the Texas Regular Legislative Session. Although the law took effect on September 1, 2017, it was projected to continue with its implementation in the first half of 2018 (Mental Health Bill Tracking). I strongly support the Bill because it will improve access to healthcare especially for the significant number of Texans suffering from mental health and addiction with substance use disorder. The Bill is timely and seeks to address some of the real health concerns affecting people living in the state. Research has shown that approximately 1 out of every 5 Texans will likely experience a mental health problem in their life. Further research shows that up to 20% of children between the ages of 9 and 17 will also be diagnosed with a mental health concern at some point in their life (Mental Health in Texas).
Critical to note is that the proximity between Texas and Mexico has made the state an obvious target for the smuggling of drugs. In 2015 alone, 29% of the adults were reportedly suffering from mental health secondary to substance abuse. Statistics gathered in 2014 showed that about 6.4% of people, aged 12 and above received treatment for alcohol addiction (Mental Health in Texas). It is therefore vital that the state’s legislators have taken cognizance of this worrying trend and signed this Bill into action in a bid to reduce health concerns related to mental health and addiction from substance use. The Bill will ensure that all Texans receive equal access to physical and mental care for needs to do with substance disorder (Mental Health Parity in the 2017).
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Policy and How It Influences Nursing
In assessing the legislation and its impact on the current systems in Texas, one should take cognizance of the term "parity" protections in the Bill. The policy will affect the insurance plans to ensure that all insured Texans receive equal access to all the mental health care needs. As such, the state citizens will enjoy the cover, and insurance plans will be expanded to ensure that mental illnesses from abuse of substances are provided. "Parity" in the naming of the Bill means that health insurance coverage is equal to the coverage provided for physical health needs. It, therefore, influences the various insurance companies in Texas to provide equal coverage and not necessarily comprehensive or good coverage (Mental Health Parity in the 2017). I emphasize my support for the Bill by asserting that it will influence many insurers to treat mental health from substance abuse similarly to how it would have handled a disease such as diabetes.
The Bill also influences the role of nurses in the healthcare system. One of the most significant pillars of the bill stresses on stakeholder workgroup where different health cadres will dialogue and work together in fulfilling cross-agency collaboration and formulating workgroups that would ensure the "parity" mentioned in the Bill is realized. Important to note is that nurses are always at the forefront in dealing with mental health issues in any healthcare facility. Nurses receive additional skills that touch on their interpersonal skills which help them to recognize mental health issues and further develop a rationale for treatment through engagement and building a patient-centered communication (Worden, 2018). By increasing access to health care through expansion of the insurance coverage in the state, nurses will offer a comprehensive assessment and treatment of mental illnesses since the cost will no longer be a barrier in their treatment.
Stakeholders Benefiting From the Legislation
The first body that will be influenced by the new law is the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI). The HB 10 Bill seeks to expand the authority of the TDI and enable it to enforce the federal parity policy and regulations for insurance plans regulated by the Texas state (Mental Health Bill Tracking). It will, therefore, be required to include both quantitative and non-quantitative limitations such as visit limits and reviews for medical necessity respectively. The medical fraternity will also benefit from the legislation because through the collection of quantitative and non-quantitative treatment information; they will be better placed to understand the experiences of the consumers. It will further improve stakeholder workgroup collaboration and ensure that everybody works towards a common cause of improving the mental health conditions of the patients. Mental health facilities will also receive increased funding to enhance improvements in the wake of the new proposals that will see an increased number of patients in the healthcare facilities seeking treatment.
Other than the nursing profession, the health system, in general, will improve in the face of the changes proposed by The Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity Bill that seeks to take effect in 2018. It remains in tandem with the Affordable Care Act provisions that similarly expands the insurance coverage and ensures that policies that improve health care workers performance are installed. Cost as a barrier to health will be mitigated by providing that mental health secondary to substance disorder is treated as any other normal health concern. Through collaboration, the health care system will be more integrated which will guarantee better clinical outcomes as physicians and nurses will be working under a policy that promotes cross-agency workgroups.
References
Mental Health Bill Tracking. (2018). Texas Council for Development Disabilitie. Retrieved from: http://www.tcdd.texas.gov/public-policy/texas-legislature/legislative-bill-tracking/bill-track-mh/
Mental Health in Texas. (2018). Mental Health in Texas.org. Retrieved from: https://mentalhealthtx.org/
Mental Health Parity in the (2017). Texas Legislative Session. Retrieved from: http://bettertexasblog.org/2017/08/mental-health-parity-2017-texas-legislative-session/
Worden, J. W. (2018). Grief counseling and grief therapy: A handbook for the mental health practitioner . Springer Publishing Company.
