Mental Health Parity Enforcement
Current understanding
Federal enforcement of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA), which requires group health plans and insurers to cover mental health and substance use disorder benefits on par with medical/surgical benefits. Enforcement is split across the Departments of Labor, HHS, and Treasury depending on plan type, and Congress has periodically considered legislation to strengthen penalties, expand DOL authority, or tighten non-quantitative treatment limitation (NQTL) requirements.
Evidence log
- 2025-07-22 — Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act of 2025: cross-connection with medicare-inpatient-psychiatric-coverage: Removing Medicare’s 190-day lifetime psychiatric inpatient cap addresses a longstanding parity gap between mental health and general medical/surgical inpatient coverage under Medicare. (novelty: 3)
- 2026-06-30 — Mental Health Parity Enforcement and Funding Act: HR9551 (Mental Health Parity Enforcement and Funding Act, 119th Congress) referred to House Committee on Education and Workforce; provisions not detailed in the referral notice. (novelty: 2)