Federal Mental Health Parity Interim Rules Published
Two weeks ago, federal agencies published the interim final rules amending the mental health parity provisions, which appear in the Federal Register at Volume 75, Number 21, page 5409 (the “Rules”). The Rules are intended to implement the Wellstone-Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (“MHPAEA”). A brief summary of some highlights of the Rules follows.
Among other things, the Rules prohibit large group health plans (or group insurers) from imposing a separate deductible for mental health or substance abuse disorder benefits. In other words, a group health plan cannot require a subscriber to meet one deductible for mental health/substance abuse disorder benefits and another deductible for medical/surgical benefits. Rather, a single deductible must be applied for all benefits provided by the group health plan for each coverage unit (i.e., for individual plan deductibles as well as family plan deductibles).
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