Jun 14, 2016
Friday, June 10, the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers participated in a "listening session" with Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell and Michael Botticelli, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy. NAATP was one of 14 organizations asked to participate in the discussion.
NAATP thanked the administration for creating the Parity Task Force and for the steps that have been taken to move implementation of Parity forward. Those items include a new Parity brochure for consumers and upcoming guidance to states regarding Parity enforcement.
While these are positive steps, we also forcefully made the point that the Parity law will never be fully implemented until there is full disclosure regarding reasons for denials combined with aggressive enforcement measures.
Director Botticelli commented that there seemed to be consensus around those two items and indicated that there will be additional opportunity for input. He also encouraged everyone participating to develop comments supporting our positions.
The new consumer brochure can be found at: Consumer Brochure
A new Parity Task force website has also been created: Parity Task Force
The National Association will continue to participate in the President's Task force and advocate for transparency and full Parity enforcement. We will also be asking our members to submit comments and will provide a template for their use.
