Mental Health Parity

Following years of strong advocacy by The Practice Organization for full mental health parity, the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity & Addiction Equity Act MHPAEA became law in October 2008 and went into effect in January 2010. It closed the loopholes in the 1996 law and set a uniform standard to end insurance discrimination for mental health and substance abuse coverage in private employer health plans. 

The Final Rule was released on Nov. 8, 2013, and reinforced both the intent and the spirit of the law. It incorporated several suggestions from the Practice Organization’s April 2013 letter suggesting ways to make the Final Rule more enforceable, such as reinforcing and better explaining the requirement the provider reimbursement parity requirement. In January 2014, the Practice Organization submitted a comment letter addressing concerns related to implementation of MHPAEA under the Final Rule. Since then the Practice Organization has met with key federal regulators pressing for prompt action and enforcement on the Practice Organization's eight outstanding parity complaints.

• President’s Parity Task Force Issues Recommendations to Improve Mental Health Coverage
• APA Practice Organization comments to Parity Task Force (PDF, 433KB)

• What you need to know about mental health coverage — consumer guide
• Resources on the Mental Health Parity Law
• Mental Health Insurance: Get the Whole Picture — Video
• Does your health insurance cover mental health treatment? — A blog post by Katherine Nordal, PhD

• An employer’s guide to the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (PDF, 479KB)

• Is your state complying with federal parity regulations?
• The Practice Organization addresses parity enforcement and transparency in Medicaid
• Parity champions take concerns to federal enforcement agencies
• Mental health parity implementation: We need your help
• The Practice Organization continues mental health parity implementation advocacy
• Administration releases final parity rule
• Essential health benefits final rule provisions are favorable for mental health care
• Comments on Essential Health Benefits rulemaking
• Department of Labor releases new FAQs on parity implementation
• Is that insurance company avoiding the parity law?
• Few Americans aware of mental health parity law
• Since you asked… about implementation of the federal parity law
• Six points you need to know about the mental health parity law
• New resource helps clients and consumers understand the mental health parity law

• The Practice Organization sends letter to Representatives Kennedy and Napolitano (PDF, 34KB) expressing support for the CHIP Mental Health Parity Act (H.R 3192).
• Comment letter: Oct. 5, 2011 (PDF, 140KB)
  Letter from APA Practice Organization and the Florida Psychological Association asserting that a rate cut by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida violates the federal parity law because only mental health rates were reduced.

• Mental health parity rule is favorable for psychology

• APA Practice calls for end to discriminatory limits to mental health services

• Full mental health parity is now law

• The Wellstone-Domenici Mental Health Parity Act of 2008: Questions and answers for psychologists

• Summary of the new parity law

• Letter from Katherine C. Nordal, PhD, to members announcing the passage of mental health parity

• House and Senate pass parity bills

• Parity legislation achieves historic milestone

• Senate and House achieve historic agreement on parity  

• The Senate Mental Health Parity Bill provides complete parity (PDF, 3.8MB)

• Senate passes Mental Health Parity Act

• Regarding the actuarial costs of mental health and substance abuse parity (PDF, 20KB)

• Testimony by APA to the U.S. House of Representatives 2002 hearing on mental health parity