This brochure gives an overview of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008. It lists some of the common limits placed on mental health and substance use disorder benefits and services.

This document provides an overview of essential information necessary for understanding mental health and substance use disorder parity and how to implement and comply with federal parity laws. This guide applies to parity laws in employer-sponsored health plans and group and individual insurance.

There are protections in federal law, collectively known as “parity,” which are designed to ensure that certain types of health plans cover mental and substance use disorders no less generously than they cover other health issues. This resource can guide you to helpful materials and places.

This Advisory reviews the evidence on prescription stimulant misuse among youth and young adults. It establishes prescription stimulant misuse as a public health problem, identifies associated risk and protective factors, and provides programs and action steps for stakeholders to prevent misuse.

These prevention core competencies and accompanying knowledge, skills, and abilities offer professional direction to the prevention field, affecting staff development and career ladders and pipelines, and providing guidance for training programs and service delivery qualification.

This Advisory is based on TIP 55, Behavioral Health Services for People Who Are Homeless. It addresses the fundamentals of how providers and administrators can employ approaches to address the complex challenges of providing integrated treatment services to clients experiencing homelessness.

The EAP Prescription Drug Toolkit and Fact Sheets provide guidance related to counseling, referrals, and follow-up services (e.g., alternatives to prescription drugs, workplace drug misuse and relapse prevention, dangers of combined drug use, screenings, and evaluations before returning to work).

This updated TIP is designed to help providers and others better understand how to identify, manage, and prevent substance misuse in older adults. The TIP describes the unique ways in which the signs and symptoms of substance use disorder (SUD) manifest in older adults; drug and alcohol use disorder screening tools, assessments, and treatments specifically tailored for older clients' needs; the interaction between SUDs and cognitive impairment; and strategies to help providers improve their older clients' social functioning and overall wellness.