Mental Health Treatment: Exploring Access and Barriers in Affordable Care

The NYS Community Schools Thruway Coalition is partnering with the NYS Community Health Access to Addiction and Mental Healthcare Project (CHAMP), to explore health insurance barriers in access to mental health and substance use disorder services for students and their families.

A little about CHAMP:

CHAMP is the New York State independent health insurance ombudsman program for substance use disorder and mental health care. They educate and assist New Yorkers in accessing treatment and insurance coverage for substance use and mental health treatment. Specifically CHAMP can help families to:

·  Understand what mental health and substance use disorder benefits are covered by your insurance and how to access them

·  Find mental health and substance use disorder providers

·  Assist you with obtaining needed approvals (such as prior authorization, additional services, and out-of-network services)