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Compliance February 26, 2007
EBSA Releases Amendment to Extend Mental Health Parity Law
February 26, 2007 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Federal
regulators have released the necessary technical amendment to
extend the interim final rules under the Mental Health Parity
Act (MHPA) to December 31, 2007.
Reported by Fred Schneyer
That sunset date extension was contained in the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 signed by President Bush on December 20, 2006, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)
When originally signed into law in 1996, the MHPA stated that the act would not apply to benefits for services furnished on or after September 30, 2001. Since then MHPA has been amended five times to extend the sunset date (See Mental Health Parity Act Sunset Rule Extended Again ).
MHPA requires that annual or lifetime dollar limits
for mental heath benefits be no lower than the dollar
limits for medical/surgical benefits offered by a group
health plan. The act applies to group health plans or
health insurance coverage offered by issuers in
connection with a group health plan that offers both
mental health and medical/surgical benefits.
However, it does not require plans to offer mental health
benefits.
For more information about mental health benefits,
contact EBSA, 1- (866)444-3272 or go to
http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/newsroom/fsmhparity.html
.
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