New Parity Act

New Parity Act Provides for Improved Mental Health Coverage and Benefits
On September 18, 2007, the Senate passed a parity act that seeks to expand the 1996 Mental Health Parity Act (MHPA). The bill seeks to ensure equality for mental health benefits. The bill which applies to group health plans of 50 or more employees requires mental health coverage to offer additional components including:

1. Mental health benefits financial requirements should not be more restrictive than those for surgical and medical benefits. This requirement extends to deductibles, out-of-pocket expenses, co-payments, co-insurance and other limits.

2. Treatment limitations should not be more restrictive than other benefits in the health plan including treatment frequency, treatment duration, and scope.

By passing the 2007 MHPA, the Senate hopes that Americans who need mental health treatment will have access to fair and reasonable health insurance.

Enforcement and Accountability
There are several sections of the government that will impose the MHPA including the Departments of Labor, Treasury and Health & Human Services. The DOL will check the compliance of group health plans while the DOT can impose penalties. DHHS will penalize insurance issuers should a state fall short of enforcing the bill.

An accountability report is required of the comptroller general in order to study and assess the effects of the MHPA on several issues, such as:

- health care quality
- coverage and benefits for mental health coverage
- impact on in-network and out-of-network coverage
- access to and cost of health insurance coverage
- impact on the federal government and businesses, among others