Medicaid Expansion Programme and Mental Health

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Summary
The article analyses the benefits that the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act has provided to mental health and substance abuse patients. It discusses how the new Act has filled in the gaps in mental health care which were to be bridged by the Mental Health Parity and Equity Addiction Act. The Mental Health Parity and Equity Act was to ensure that psychiatric patients were treated the same way as other patients. However, its application was limited to larger employers with 50 or more workers.
The article states that the affordable Act has introduced both the issue of individual mandate and parity. Individuals have an obligation to take out health insurance covers. The articles also state that poor people with mental illness should worry due to the court’s decision because the Supreme Court decision allowed states to opt in or out of the Medicaid expansion program. The older people will also benefit from the Act because it has filled gaps that existed in the health care insurance coverage.
Effect of policy on health care system
The individual mandate imposed by statute will ensure that many people take up health insurance covers. The number of Americans who had not taken health insurance covers stood at around 16 percent. This percentage includes patients with mental illnesses. The Medicaid expansion programme has eliminated discrimination in health insurance. Before the Act came into operation, age, gender and health status were considered in granting health insurance covers. People with pre-existing conditions were not eligible for health insurance cover. Since mental illness is a pre-existing condition, mental health patients were not qualified for health insurance covers. The discrepancies that existed regarding health care insurance have since been eliminated by the Act.
Under the Medicaid expansion programme, mental health patients are treated the same way as other patients. The irrationality and differential treatment that existed before the passing of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act has been eliminated. Since the law requires that no one shall be discriminated based on any pre-existing condition, more patients suffering from mental illnesses will benefit.
Most patients with mental illnesses are rarely cured. Their conditions keep recurring. Managing such diseases require a lot of resources. However, with the Medicaid expansion programme, most mental health patients will have relief. The premium cuts on health insurance cover will increase the uptake of health care insurance. Close to 30 million Americans might benefit from the Medicaid expansion programme.
The law on mental health parity was passed that requiring many insurance companies to put patients with mental illness within the same cover limits as other patients. However, the poor could not benefit because they could afford health insurance in the first point. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, fills the gaps that were left by the Health parity law.
Old patients will benefit from price cuts that have been introduced by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Older patients are given discounts on brand-name drugs. Patients within the “doughnut hole” category will benefit. Older patients with mental health problems will be able to access drugs at reduced costs. This is a plus to mental health care. The Patient protection and Affordable care Act will increase access to medical care to all patients including patients with mental illnesses.
However, the decision of the Supreme Court in National Federation of Independent Business v/s Sebelius might affect the implementation of the policy by Federal states. The court’s decision to allow the state to either opt in or out of the Medicaid programme is likely to affect poor patients in states that fail to comply with the law.
Missing information
The article does not make reference to particular sections of the law. The author simply makes general statements regarding the health care policy and how it would benefits patients with mental illnesses. The failure to refer to the law limits understanding of the policy.
The decision of the court to uphold the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is merely mentioned. It is not expounded further by the author. The reader, therefore, remains in limbo about the decision of the court on the Medicaid expansion programme. A little analysis of the case would improve the understanding of the policy.
The article only addresses issues of mental health in isolation. The article does not mention how the cover will benefit other categories of patient who are not mentally ill. The article is, therefore, deficient because it creates an impression that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act only benefits patients with mental illnesses.
The article does not discuss the Medicaid implementation formula. The policy has to be implemented in faces or some other way. This should appear in the article to better the understanding of the policy.
New information
I did not know that the Medicaid expansion programme allowed for discounts of up to 50 percent on brand-name drugs. Drug companies are mandated to provide discounts and subsidies on such drugs. The subsidies and discounts are to continue up to 2020 when the gaps are expected to close.

Reference
Richard A. Friedman (2012 July 9). Good News for Mental Illness in Health Law. The New York Times Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/10/health/policy/health-care-law-offers-wider-benefits-for-treating-mental-illness.html?_r=0