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News

Federal Mental Health and Addiction Parity Legislation Enacted

After languishing in Congress in various versions for 12 years, the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 is now law. The act requires any employer with more than 50 employees providing group health insurance to apply the same treatment limits for mental health and substance abuse (addictive disorders) as they do for other health issues. This parity applies to inpatient and outpatient care, in-network and out-of-network, and to emergency care.The law applies to health plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2009, except for plans negotiated with a union (collective bargaining). In the latter case, the law takes effect on January 1, 2009, or upon expiration of the agreement, whichever is earlier.

The legislation got enacted by being the vehicle for passing the $700 billion enonomic rescue plan. The economic legislation was attached to the mental health parity lesgislation, with the overall bill retitled to refect the economic purpose, to purchase troubled mortgages. The legislation was passed by the Senate on October 1, and passed by the House and signed into law by the President on October 3, 2008.