Attorneys Gretchen Harders, Cassandra Labbees, and Kevin Malone co-authored an article in the Bloomberg Tax Management Compensation Planning Journal, titled “Mental Health Parity: Compliance Steps for Plan Sponsors.”
Following is an excerpt (see below to download the full version in PDF format):
Plan sponsors face a myriad of difficulties in ensuring their group health plans comply with the requirements of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). MHPAEA prevents group health plans and health insurance issuers that provide mental health or substance use disorder (MH/SUD) benefits from imposing less favorable benefit limitations on MH/SUD benefits than medical or surgical benefits. Generally all group health plans, whether self-funded or fully-insured, that provide MH/SUD benefits must comply with parity rules, with limited exceptions for small employers (less than 51 employees), retiree-only health plans, or plans that meet the increased cost exemption.