The Palgrave Handbook of American Mental Health Policy was recently published by editors Margaret T. Morris Professor of Health Economics Richard G. Frank, PhD and colleagues  professor of psychiatry and Director of the Behavioral Health Systems Improvement Collaborative at University of Maryland School of Medicine Howard H. Goldman, MD, PhD, and emeritus professor of health policy and management at the UNC Gillings School of Public Health Joseph P. Morrissey, PhD. The book serves as a resource for understanding current mental health policy controversies, options, and implementation strategies. It features chapters by 30th Anniversary Professor of Health Care Policy Haiden A. Huskamp, PhD, and professor of health economics Thomas G. McGuire, PhD.

Huskamp’s chapter, “Mental Health Insurance Parity: How Full is the Glass?”, discusses the history of policies requiring parity in coverage for mental health and substance use disorder (MH/SUD) services and general medical services as well as what more needs to be done in the market for MH/SUD benefits. Huskamp argues that the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act and the Affordable Care Act together represent the most dramatic expansion in MH/SUD benefits in over fifty years.  However, she notes ways in which full parity has not yet been achieved and important areas for policy focus to help ensure parity coverage going forward. 

In “New Financing Models in Behavioral Health: A Recipe for Efficiency or Under-Provision?”, McGuire discusses the design methods for provider payment. He highlights new methods of financing provider payments such as bundling. Bundling combines services that were previously paid for individually, encouraging all care providers to provide a high quality of care. “Carve-outs”, in which a specialty behavioral health care organization is contracted to provide care, are a form of bundling at the patient level. Bundling can also provide savings for episode-based payments.

McGuire states that the best protection against dangers to efficiency and fairness in coverage is to pay private plans so that they are incentivized to accept and serve beneficiaries with chronic illness.
The book also includes chapters by professor of public service and Dean of the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at NYU Sherry Glied, PhD, and senior physician policy researcher and professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School Marcela Horvitz-Lennon, MD, MPH.