The U.S. GAO has issued a November 2011 report summarizing study results on employers affected by the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Act of 2008 (the MHPAEA).  The report analyzes trends in health insurance coverage based on information gathered from direct responses by a random sample of plan sponsoring employers and input from the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). 

Effective for health care plan coverage on and after October 3, 2009, the MHPAEA requires sponsors of group health care plans offering coverage for mental health conditions and substance use disorders to provide such coverage on terms no more restrictive than that offered for medical and surgical conditions. 

Among the results, the report reveals that roughly 96 percent of employers previously offered mental health and substance use coverage, and have continued to do so since the MHPAEA became effective.  Only 2 percent of responding employers reported a discontinuation of coverage.

The most common reported change to mental health and substance use coverage was an enhancement of benefits by removing treatment limitations, such as eliminating the maximum number of office visits allowable for plan participants.  Lifetime dollar limits for mental health and substance use coverage has also declined.  Cost-sharing, copayment, and coinsurance rates have largely remained the same since prior to the MHPAEA’s passage. 

The report also analyzed studies published between 2000 and 2011 assessing the effect of mental health and substance use insurance coverage on plan participants, with mixed results as to participant expenditures, use of and access to services, and participant health status.

Employers who sponsor group health care plans, which either cover or exclude coverage for mental health or substance use disorders, may find the GAO’s report useful as a measure of employer practices during these times leading up to the full impact of the 2010 health care reform.