Mental Health Parity Page

The Partnership for Workplace Mental Health has created a "Parity Page" that contains a wealth of information on the 2008 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008.

A resource for learning more about how to comply with the new federal requirements, the page includes a timeline of the parity law, an outline of the associated interim final rules, results from an employer survey on parity, and a research issue brief.

To access the parity page, click here.

Mental Health Parity Regulations Released

The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has posted the public inspection version of the interim final rules for the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act ("MHPAEA"). Expanding upon laws enacted by the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996, these news laws require group health plans and health insurance issuers to ensure that financial requirements (such as co-pays, deductibles) and treatment limitations (such as visit limits) applicable to mental health or substance use disorder (MH/SUD) benefits are no more restrictive than the predominant requirements or limitations applied to substantially all medical/surgical benefits.

Generally, the law became effective for plan years beginning on or after October 3, 2009, and thus January 1, 2010 for calendar year plans. The Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Treasury will publish in the Federal Register final regulation that is effective April 5, 2010, and applicable to plan years beginning on or after July 1, 2010.

EBSA has published a fact sheet that can be found by clicking here.
Click here for the related press release.