The departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and the Treasury issued a final rule increasing parity between mental health/substance use disorder benefits and medical/surgical benefits in group and individual health plans.
The final rule implements the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, and ensures that health plans features like co-pays, deductibles and visit limits are generally not more restrictive for mental health/substance abuse disorders benefits than they are for medical/surgical benefits.
Specific additional consumer protections are also included, such as:
- Ensuring that parity applies to intermediate levels of care received in residential treatment or intensive outpatient settings;
- Clarifying the scope of the transparency required by health plans, including the disclosure rights of plan participants, to ensure compliance with the law;
- Clarifying that parity applies to all plan standards, including geographic limits, facility-type limits and network adequacy; and
- Eliminating the provision that allowed insurance companies to make an exception to parity requirements for certain benefits based on “clinically appropriate standards of care.”
“Americans deserve access to coverage for mental health and substance use disorders that is on par with medical and surgical care,” said Treasury secretary Jacob J. Lew. “These rules mark an important step in ending the disparities that exist in insurance plans, and will provide families nationwide with critical coverage and protections that fulfill their health needs.”
