INSIDE THIS MONTH'S ISSUE
2019 SEEDS Conference
The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act
MHA of AZ Mental Health at Work Training Program
Upcoming Events and Community Calendar
Support Groups in Maricopa County
Contact Us
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Mental Health America of Arizona is pleased to announce its upcoming
25th Annual SEEDS Conference.
We stumbled upon a Seeds Conference article in a local newspaper from 1999!!!
The old article is pictured below.
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What is Parity?
The Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) was passed in 2008 to help individuals who suffer from mental illness and/or addiction by ending discriminatory health care practices directed against those conditions.
Parity is about fairness
Americans often have more difficulty getting
behavioral health treatment than they do accessing other medical care. Even those with health insurance face barriers. Insurance plans charge them more or put more restrictions on
behavioral health benefits that are not in place for other medical care.
Parity laws at the federal and state level are designed to change this and make health insurance plans treat individuals with
behavioral health conditions fairly.
Parity is the Law
The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (the
Federal Parity Law ) was passed in 2008 and requires health insurance plans to cover
behavioral health benefits and physical health benefits equally. The Federal Parity Law says three things:
- Health insurance plans CANNOT have higher co-payments and other out-of-pocket expenses for your behavioral health benefits than they do for other medical benefits.
- Health insurance plans CANNOT put higher limitations on the number of visits or days of coverage for your behavioral health care than they do for other medical care.
- Health insurance plans CANNOT use more restrictive managed care practices for behavioral health benefits than they use for other medical benefits.
The
Federal Parity Law does not require that all health insurance plans cover
behavioral health care, but if they do, the coverage must be comparable to what's in place for other medical care.
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You are invited to apply to Magellan Complete Care
of Arizona's Member Advisory Committee!
It's your feedback that will help to improve the benefits and services members get through MCC of AZ. The MAC is looking to our MCC of AZ members, community partners, family members and Magellan Health staff for membership. A diverse group of people will be selected to help address these important issues.
New applications will be accepted a few times throughout the year. Below is a schedule of future application due dates:
- June 20th, 2019
- October 17th, 2019
- February 20th, 2020
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Additional Events:
Open Mic For Great Mental Health
Let's bring our voices together for great mental health awareness
Sunday, March 24, 4 to 6 pm, Phoenix
All genres of Music, Straight, Lgbt and All Races are welcome! Great Mental Health doen't have a specific race or gender that it affects. We can fight this together for Great Mental Health. We will have Spoken Word, Music and Stories Of Triumph! To participate with Singing, Music, Poetry or Spoken Word. For information, visit www.eventbrite.com.
SMILE Family Support Group
Free group from Marc Community Resources open to the community
Meets the 2nd Thursday of each month, 6 to 7:30 pm
737 W Guadalupe Rd., Suite 122 Mesa, AZ 85210
You are not alone on your journey. Marc's family support group, SMILE (Sharing, Motivating, Inspiring and Learning Empathetically) is a FREE group which provides educational tools, community resources, guidance and additional supports to grow and realize you are not alone on your journey. For information, contact Nancy Stoll, 480.201.9196, nancy.stoll@marccr.com. For a flyer to print or share, click HERE.
Tax Filing Assistance at No Charge- VITA Program
Every Saturday through April 13, 2019
9 am to 1 pm by appointment
Ability360 Center, 5025 E. Washington St., Phoenix 85034
VITA, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program from the IRS, offers free tax help to people who generally make $55,000 or less, persons with disabilities and limited English speaking taxpayers who need assistance in preparing their own tax returns.
To schedule an appointment, call (602) 443-0738 and leave a voice message.
Mental Health and Faith Conference
May 24, 2019
6:30pm - 9:00pm
Huntington University, 8385 West Mariners Way, Peoria
Check out more Community Calendars in the Phoenix Area!
ASU Center for Applied Behavioral Health Policy
Events
Health Choice Integrated Care Community
Events
Mercy Maricopa Integrated Care
Events
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The free support groups are sponsored by the
Mental Health Guild.
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To donate directly to Mental Health America of Arizona click
here.
To donate through Fry's click
here.
To donate through Amazon Smile click
here.
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MHA AZ 2019 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Chuck Goldstein, M.D., Vice Chair
Jason Bernstein, C.P.A., Treasurer
Matthew Moody, M.C., Secretary
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Kathy Bashor, M.C.
Laura Dix, M.S.
Charles Goldstein, M.D.
Laurie Goldstein
Emily Jenkins, J.D.
Adwoa John, M.H.A.
Marcus Johnson, M.P.H
Charles Montgomery
Karen Pitico, L.C.S.W & M.P.H.
Detective Amanda Stamps
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