October marks the 14th anniversary of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act.
This critical law prohibits health insurers from discriminating against people seeking mental health and substance use disorder care. The law requires health plans to cover mental health and substance use disorder treatment in the same way they cover treatment for any other health condition. Despite this strong legal protection, many people still struggle to get insurance coverage for mental health and addiction care due to poor implementation and weak enforcement of the law.
Stronger enforcement is critical amid rising mental health and addiction crises and increased demand for affordable care. Health insurers must be held accountable for complying with parity requirements so that more people can access life-saving treatment.
Congress has introduced several bills this session that would strengthen parity enforcement:
- The Parity Enforcement Act would allow the Department of Labor to investigate and levy monetary penalties against health insurers who violate parity.
- The Parity Implementation Assistance Act would provide grants to states to support their oversight of health insurance plans’ compliance with parity requirements.
- The Closing Health Coverage Gaps for Public Servants Act would close a loophole that currently allows self-funded, nonfederal governmental health care plans, which cover firefighters, police, public school teachers, and city and state workers, to opt out of federal parity requirements.
- The Behavioral Health Coverage Transparency Act would require insurer reports on treatment limitations, federal audits of health plans, the establishment of a hotline and online Consumer Parity Portal, and grants to support consumer assistance programs, such as health insurance ombudsman programs.
The House of Representatives recently passed the Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act and the Mental Health Matters Act, which include the provisions outlined in the Parity Enforcement Act, Parity Implementation Assistance Act, and Closing Health Coverage Gaps for Public Servants Act.
With this session of Congress coming to a close in just a few months, it is critical that this progress is not lost. We encourage you to send a letter to your members of Congress urging them to ensure that legislation to strengthen parity enforcement is signed into law this year.
