Mental Health Parity and Beyond: Aligning the Public and Private Systems of Care for People with Mental Illness

Maine is one of the first states to mandate comprehensive mental health coverage for its citizens under private insurance plans. Mental health advocates nationwide long have lobbied for such parity. In this article, Kitty Purington first provides an overview of the federal and state legislation leading up to the present law. She then compares current parity provisions under private plans with those of MaineCare (Maine’s Medicaid program, reporting that coverage under MaineCare for individuals with serious mental illness still exceeds that which is mandated under private plans. She discusse

On the Road to Better Value: State Roles in Promoting Accountable Care Organizations

Outlines how accountable care organizations can deliver value through incentives to manage utilization, improve quality, and curb cost growth. Profiles states supporting the model with data, new payment methods, accountability measures, and other efforts

Electronic Release of Clinical Laboratory Results: A Review of State and Federal Policy

Based on a review of state and federal laws and interviews with stakeholders, examines various approaches to permitting the release of test results and issues and implications for implementing health information technology and health information exchange