National Business Coalition on Health
In 2008, Congress passed the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Act. Basically, this new law mandated that health care for mental health and addiction treatment must be provided in the same manner that care is delivered for all other health issues. The essence of this law is that the previous limits on service, or restrictions for mental health & addiction care, were eliminated. As a result, it created coverage interpretation issues for the medicines and medical services needed to treat mental health and addiction issues. Today, many of the mandates in this law have taken hold. This project, completed in cooperation with an employer association and a corporate sponsor, was directed towards employers and insurers, specifically focusing on the coverage issues associated with smoking cessation that the employers/insurers are now liable to provide.
Key Highlights:
- Provides an overview of the 2008 Mental Health Parity & Addiction Equity Act
- Discusses the potential impact of treatment limitations as they relate to smoking cessation
- Review various questions about coverage and how insurers may need to review current policies
Key NHD Services
- “SmartCasts” – NHD produced audience targeted video enhanced emails called “SmartCasts.” These specialized emails were sent as “alerts”; “invitations”; and “follow on” formats. Each email was designed to draw the audience into the provided information and cause them to engage in further explanation of the program landing page. Each sent “SmartCast” provided analytical information about the actions of each recipient as they managed the “SmartCast.”
- Webinar - The “SmartCasts” were used to drive the target audience to an hour long webinar that discussed key aspects of the act, and key issues within the act such as:
- Restrictions
- Prior Authorizations
- Formulary Design
- Riders & Compliance
The webinar provided additional analytic information as to who was watching, what parts of the seminar they appear to be more interested in, and the amount of time they spent viewing.
- “Chapters” - Following the webinar, key “chapters” were created that focused on limited portions of the program. Along with the entire webinar, the “chapters” were provided as on-demand downloads, available for viewing at the convenience of the target audience.
- Downloads -NHD has learned with experience that one of the most important aspects of any webinar program is the inclusion of solid, in depth downloadable materials on the topic being presented. In most cases, our experience indicates that the downloads will actually outperform the webinar in terms of “click throughs” and definitive actions, such as printing.
