Mental
Health Parity Laws
The Mental Health Parity and
Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) generally prevents group health
plans that provide mental health or substance use disorder
(MH/SUD) benefits from imposing less favorable benefit limitations on
those
benefits than on medical/surgical benefits.
Employer
Coverage
Employers with group health plans
that provide MH/SUD benefits in addition
to medical/surgical benefits are generally subject to the MHPAEA parity
provisions. In general, MHPAEA applies to:
- Large group health plans
sponsored by employers with more
than 50 employees, including self-insured as well as fully insured
arrangements; and
- Non-grandfathered, fully insured small group health plans sponsored by employers with an average of at least 2 but not more than 50 employees.
In addition, because many states
have enacted their own laws that supplement the requirements of the MHPAEA,
insured group health plans are advised to check with their state regulators to
understand the full scope of applicable parity requirements.
Exemptions