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The Mental Health Parity Act

Abstract

The Mental Health Parity Act (MHPA) passed on September 26, 1996 required that annual or lifetime dollar limits on mental health benefits be no lower than any such dollar limits for medical and surgical benefits offered by a group health plan or health insurance issuer offering coverage in connection with a group health plan.

Mrs. Stine will give an overview of The Mental Health Parity Act and the law to mandate parity for mental health and substance abuse services in private health insurance that will take effect in January 2010. This new law builds on the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-204), which mandated parity for lifetime and annual dollar limits. Many health plans currently do not provide sufficient coverage for mental health or substance abuse services as they do for other health care.

Discussion topics include:

How this law will affect insurance coverage of mental health and substance abuse services
How it can help improve coverage for millions of Americans
How the federal law relates to state parity laws
Other related provisions

The complete ILRU Web site was developed with support from grants from the Department of Education. However, its contents and the opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and no endorsement by the Department should be assumed. ILRU is a program of TIRR (The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research), a nationally recognized medical rehabilitation facility for persons with disabilities.