U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen joined fellow lawmakers and mental health care advocates at the White House this week to hear President Joe Biden unveil a new federal rule she says will go a long way toward increasing access to treatment for people with mental health and substance use disorders.

The first-term Lakewood Democrat was among a group that included Acting Labor Secretary Juli Su, Michigan Sen. Debbie Stabenow and 14 House members who were on hand Tuesday afternoon for the announcement.

“It was an honor to be one of the select members that were invited for the president’s very important announcement around increasing access to mental health care, as well as substance use disorder, treatment and recovery services,” Pettersen told Colorado Politics.

“This is a big step forward.”

The proposed rule is designed to enforce changes Congress made in 2020 to the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, the White House said in a release.

“I don’t know what the difference between breaking your arm and having a mental breakdown is,” Biden said. “It’s health. There’s no distinction. It’s health.”

Calling mental health care and treatment for substance abuse out of reach for most Americans, Biden added: “We must fulfill the promise for mental health parity for all Americans.”

Pettersen, who has made increasing access to mental and behavioral health care a focus of her political career, said she is encouraged by the announcement.

“These are things that far too often have had stigma attached that that weren’t a top priority for most people,” she said. “So, we’re really lucky to have a president that leads on these issues, who fights for people that are constantly left behind, like my mom.”

A 10-year state legislator before her election last fall in the Jefferson County-based 7th Congressional District, Pettersen said she’s been inspired to lead efforts to combat the opioid crisis by her mother Stacy’s decades-long struggles with addiction.

Richele Keas, senior media manager for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, introduced Biden at the event with a story about her efforts to secure mental health care for her daughter.

Pettersen said she was moved by Keas’ description of the barriers she faced.

“It really, I think, highlights the failures of this system and why this is so important,” Pettersen said.

The rule Biden announced will require that private health insurance plans track whether they provide the same levels of access to mental health and medical care, and fix things if they don’t.

Among the factors private insurers will have to consider are the status of their provider network, how much they pay out-of-network professionals and how frequently the plan requires prior authorization for treatment, according to the White House press office. Health plans will also have to use similar factors when setting payment rates for out-of-network mental health and substance use disorder providers as they do for medical providers.

Pettersen said it’s critical that insurance plans “identify the gaps in the services that they provide,” including whether they have enough professionals available to deliver the coverage they promise.

Too often, Pettersen added, plans insist they’re complying with legal requirements by offering coverage but don’t actually provide the access they describe.

“These are just some of the significant barriers that people have identified,” she said. “(Insurers) can say, ‘Oh, yeah, we cover it,’ but nobody is in their network because they aren’t compensating enough for providers. And when people have to go out of network, they’re denied actually having the services covered.”