House of Representatives Passes Groundbreaking Mental Health Legislation
(BOSTON) - On Thursday, June 16, Joan Meschino (D-Hull) joined her colleagues in the House of Representatives to pass H.4879, An Act addressing barriers to care for mental health on a unanimous 155-0 vote. The bill aims to bolster mental health services in the Commonwealth by taking steps to address mental health parity, increasing access to youth behavioral health care, implementing the federally created 988 crisis hotline, and addressing emergency room boarding, in addition to several other updates related to behavioral health care and substance use disorder treatment. Some highlights in the legislation include: Taking a major step toward implementing and enforcing mental health parity, the concept that insurance coverage for mental health care should be equal to insurance coverage for any other medical condition; Expanding insurance coverage of critical behavioral health services, including annual wellness exams comparable to existing annual physical exams; Requiring MassHealth to cover postpartum depression . . . Read More