Labor & Employment Symposium - Topics: Religious Accommodations—Vaccinations; DOL Mental Health Parity Audits
Podcast: What's New for Insurers in Mental Health Parity Compliance - Diagnosing Health Care
Department of Labor Imposes Additional Requirement on Employer-Provided Health Services
Under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA), as amended by the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA), 2021, group health plans and health insurance issuers must conduct comparative analyses to show that...more
On September 9th, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, and the Department of the Treasury (collectively, the “Departments”) issued the much anticipated final rule under the Mental Health...more
I. Summary of the Final Rule - On September 9, 2024, the Departments of Treasury, Labor and Health and Human Services published the much-anticipated final rule implementing parts of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction...more
The three federal agencies tasked with enforcement of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) — the Departments of Labor, Health & Human Services (through CMS), and Treasury (the Departments) — issued their...more
Summary: Under a final rule released by the Biden administration on Sept. 9, 2024, health insurers will be required to cover mental health care and addiction services on par with other medical conditions. This rule is part of...more
The U.S. Departments of Labor (DOL), Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (collectively, the “Tri-Departments”) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on August 3, 2023, to propose new regulations for the...more
Our Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation Group summarizes the key provisions of a proposed rule that would impose new Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act requirements on group health plans and health insurance...more
Most employers know that if a group health plan provides mental health or substance use disorder (MH/SUD) benefits in any of six specified classifications, the plan must provide MH/SUD benefits in all specified...more
The Paul Wellstone and Peter Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (“MHPAEA”) has increasingly been the focus of government enforcement activity and private plaintiff litigation. In its 2022 Report to...more
Last week we discussed on our ERISA Blog that the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) has become a top agenda item for plan sponsors in 2021. In this next post we will discuss the next steps that...more
The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008’s (“MHPAEA”) provisions of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “CAA”) became effective February 10, 2021 and added a requirement for group health plans and...more
The extent to which a health plan may exclude coverage for mental health treatment modalities has become an active area in ERISA litigation. In Doe v. United Behavioral Health, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 43146 (N.D. Cal. March 5,...more
On April 2, 2021, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury (the “Departments”) issued Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQs”) related to the implementation of the mental health and substance use disorder...more
The Consolidated Appropriation Act of 2021 was signed into law on December 27, 2020 and is an impressive 5,593 pages. According to the Senate Historical Office, the Act is the longest bill ever passed by Congress. Buried...more
If you only read this first paragraph, that is okay. One of the most common issues we face with DOL investigations of employer health plans involves mental health parity compliance. For those of you who sponsor a qualified...more
In Julie L. v. Excellus Health Plan, Inc., 2020 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 47734 (W.D.N.Y. March 19, 2020), a New York district court rejected the plaintiff's claims that a health insurer improperly imposed stricter medical necessity...more
Investing in the behavioral health industry presents both opportunities and challenges for private equity investors. One benefit to investors are the statutory and regulatory changes over the last 12 years — including The...more
In June 2017, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Treasury released a draft model form that participants may use to request mental health/substance use disorder (MH/SUD) limitation information from their...more
Employers can expect some challenging information requests about the mental health and substance abuse benefits offered to employees and their dependents through group health plans, if a draft form released by federal...more