Interim regs on mental health parity effective April 5, 2010
From the Center for Medicare Advocacy:
On February2, 2010, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), in conjunctionwith the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Employee Benefits SecurityAdministration of the Department of Labor (DOL), (collectively referred to asthe Departments), released interim final rules implementing the MentalHealth Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA).
The interimfinal regulations go into effect on April 5, 2010 and replace regulationsimplementing previous law. Health plans and group health insurance plansgenerally must begin complying with the interim final regulations for healthplan years that begin on or after July 1, 2010. The effective date may be laterfor some collectively-bargained plans. Comments on the interim finalregulations may be submitted to CMS, the agency designated to accept them, andmust be received no later than May 3, 2010.
MHPAEAamends the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996, which requires parity indollar and treatment limits for mental health and substance use disorderbenefits and medical/surgical benefits. MHPAEA provides that a grouphealth plan that offers both medical/surgical benefits and mental health orsubstance use disorder benefits may not require more restrictive financial ortreatment limitations for mental health or substance use disorder benefits thanfor medical/surgical benefits. MHPAEA defines financial requirements toinclude deductibles, co-payments, coinsurance, out-of-pocket expenses, and annuallimits. Further, MHPAEA defines a treatment limitation to include frequency oftreatment, number of visits, days of coverage, and “other similar limitson the scope of duration of treatment.” One of the biggest changesmade by MHPAEA is to expand the parity requirements to include protections forsubstance use disorder benefits.
Read more here: http://www.medicareadvocacy.org/InfoByTopic/MentalHealth/10_04.01.MHPAEA.htm