Georgia’s new mental health equality law comes into force on Friday, July 1st.
Under the new state law, Georgia health insurers must cover mental health treatment at the same level as it covers physical illnesses.
“Parity enters immediately,” Rep. Todd Jones, R-South Forsyth, said on the start date of the new July 1 law.
Jones, along with Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, D-Decatur, co-sponsored the omnibus bill in the state House of Representatives earlier this year.
“Georgia families hope to have a greater opportunity to receive the treatment they are entitled to,” Oliver said of the change introduced by the new equality law.
“People who haven’t received proper treatment: new funding has come, new attention has come,” Oliver said.
Oliver – along with several other mental health advocates – said Georgians can report suspected gender violations to the state insurance department. Georgians ’reports on their experiences will be key to ensuring the law is enforced, Oliver said.
Georgia’s new mental health law sends the message that “mental health matters and is as important as your physical health,” said Kim Jones, executive director of the National Alliance for Mental Illness, Georgia.
To explain mental health parity, Jones gave the example of a health insurer that offers out-of-network coverage for urgent medical services.
That insurance should also cover urgent mental health treatment and the use of off-grid substances under the parity rule, Jones explained.
The Georgia insurance department is soon hiring a new mental health equality officer to help monitor the law, Weston Burleson, director of communications officer for the insurance department, said.
Subsequently, the department will collect and publish detailed information on how health insurers perform on par with mental health, Burleson added.
The mental health law also creates a new MATCH (Multi-Agency Treatment for Children) team.
The team will begin meetings soon and look closely at the issue of Georgia children in state custody who lack stable positions, Oliver said.
“The issue of emergency placement for these children needs a lot of attention,” Oliver said, noting that some of these children are in hotels or offices.
The new law also helps establish mental health co-responder programs, Oliver said, with funds provided by the FY 2023 budget.
Co-responder programs engage mental health professionals with law enforcement officers to help respond to mental health and substance use crises. Programs often provide follow-up services.
Later this year, the state will request proposals from communities that want to establish outpatient assisted treatment programs. The new mental health law provides for five such programs on a “pilot” basis.
In these programs, courts – which work with community mental health and law enforcement agencies – can ask people to take treatment for mental health and substance use disorders.
Meanwhile, the Georgia Mental Health Commission has scheduled another round of recommendations and subcommittees meet monthly, Oliver said.
And the mental health commission is keeping a close eye on the progress of the provisions of the new law.
“There is a lot of work to be done to ensure that our oversight creates a successful implementation,” Oliver said.
This story is available because of a news collaboration with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
