The U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury today issued their 2024 Report to Congress on the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act enforcement and implementation, which suggests that group health plans and health insurance issuers are making progress complying with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, but are continuing to fall short of the requirement to cover mental health and substance use disorder benefits in parity with medical and surgical benefits.
The report highlights the ongoing efforts of the departments to strengthen and enforce the protections of MHPAEA and better ensure that plan participants, beneficiaries and enrollees do not face greater barriers in trying to access mental health and substance use disorder benefits as compared to medical and surgical benefits, including finalizing new rules for MHPAEA in September 2024. The report also details the steps the departments have taken to raise awareness of MHPAEA’s protections in the participant, provider and plan communities.