Psychiatric services : a journal of the American Psychiatric Association
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Approximately one-third of adults who enroll in Medicaid because of a disability have a serious mental illness. Arguably, this population stands to benefit from insurance coverage that complies with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). The MHPAEA and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) do not guarantee such coverage for this beneficiary group; however, they provide a variety of mechanisms by which states may provide parity-compliant coverage for mental health and substance use disorder treatment. This column explains key interactions between the MHPAEA, the ACA, and the Medicaid program that permit states to determine whether and how to provide parity-consistent coverage to beneficiaries with disabilities.
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The study assessed racial-ethnic differences in receipt of mental health services among children enrolled in systems of care under the Children's Mental Health Initiative (CMHI). ⋯ Racial-ethnic disparities in children's mental health treatment persist within systems of care. Further work is necessary to understand the role of individual program components, their interactions with community characteristics, and how they might affect mental health services use.