EBSA Releases First Report on MHPAEA Group Health Plan Compliance

The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has made available its 2012 Report to Congress: Compliance of Group Health Plans (and Health Insurance Coverage Offered in Connection with Such Plans) With the Requirements of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA).  The MHPAEA generally requires private group health benefit plans that provide mental health and/or substance use disorder benefits through a group health benefit plan that also offers medical and surgical benefits to do so on an equivalent basis. The law mandates also that starting in 2012, the EBSA provide Congress with a biennial report that discusses the compliance of group health plans and group health insurance issuers with the MHPAEA’s requirements.

To this end, the EBSA’s statutorily-required report provides an overview of the MHPAEA itself, summarizes the agency’s initial MHPAEA implementation efforts, discusses the MHPAEA interim final regulations issued by the EBSA, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), outlines the agency’s outreach and interpretive guidance efforts, and describes the agency’s steps in developing an infrastructure for MHPAEA implementation. Earlier this month, the EBSA issued a set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) to help private group health benefit plans comply with certain MHPAEA provisions.  Additional MHPAEA guidance can be found here.

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