In 2022, the Georgia General Assembly passed the landmark Mental Health Parity Act (the Act), which ensures public and private health insurance plans cover behavioral health (mental health and substance misuse treatment) equitably with physical health.
The Carter Center’s Mental Health Program has led the Georgia Parity Collaborative, a coalition of over 40 statewide and national organizations working to advance parity and educate policymakers, communities, and the media since 2020. Today, the Collaborative monitors implementation of the parity provisions in the Act by state agencies and evaluates the public’s awareness of the Act and its impact.
Collaborative Objectives
- Ensure behavioral health parity compliance among private and public insurers remains at the forefront for advocates, and educate insurance providers while encouraging them to follow the Act.
- Monitor state agencies’ progress as they carry out parity implementation and enforcement duties.
- Identify gaps in behavioral health access and service coverage, collaboratively strategizing solutions.
- Convene members from a variety of fields for a breadth of perspective and support concerning parity issues.
- Foster continued parity implementation monitoring with the Georgia Behavioral Health Reform and Innovation Commission and advance parity based on other behavioral health priorities of the Commission.
- Ensure the state’s parity progress remains a priority for policymakers during each legislative session.
Membership
- Alkermes
- Alzheimer's Association of Georgia
- American Cancer Society
- American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
- Atlanta Behavioral Health Advocates
- Autism Speaks
- Behavioral Health Center of Excellence
- CarePartners of Georgia
- Family Ties
- Georgia Advocacy Office
- Georgia Alliance of Therapeutic Services
- Georgia Appleseed Center for Law & Justice
- Georgia Association for Marriage and Family Therapy
- Georgia Association of Community Service Boards
- Georgia Budget & Policy Institute
- Georgia Hospital Association
- Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network
- Georgia Nurses Association and Foundation
- Georgia Parent Support Network
- Georgia Peer Policy Collective
- Georgia Prevention Project
- Georgia Watch
- Georgians for a Healthy Future
- Hillside
- Legal Action Center
- Licensed Professional Counselors Association of Georgia
- Mental Health on Purpose
- Mercy Care
- Morehouse School of Medicine
- NAMI Georgia (state organization of the National Alliance on Mental Illness)
- National Association of Social Workers Georgia
- National Multiple Sclerosis Society
- New Disabled South
- One Lamb
- Peachtree Government Relations
- Presbyterians for a Better Georgia
- Resilient Georgia
- SEPANS
- ShareCare
- The Council on Alcohol and Drugs
- The Kennedy Forum
- Voices for Georgia’s Children
For more information about the Georgia Parity Collaborative, contact Sarah Phillips at [email protected].
