ACA Ruling in King v. Burwell a Big Win for Mental Health Patients

The King v. Burwell decision to uphold subsidies on the federal marketplace is a win for patients who might have lost their mental health insurance coverage. More than 2.7 million Americans with mental health and substance abuse conditions would have become uninsured, according to a study from the American Mental Health Counselors.

Through the Affordable Care Act (ACA)'s mandate on essential benefits, ACA insurance and some individual and small group plans must cover mental health treatment, an important provision, note mental health advocates.

"When people can't get access to mental health and substance abuse services because they don't have insurance and can't afford it, the personal cost in human suffering is high: divorce, unemployment, and even early death," wrote Carolyn Colwell, LCSW-R, MSJ, for MD Magazine.

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