Mental Health Parity Bills Pass House and Senate
These bills, if and when signed into law, will protect over 113 million people in the US, including the 82 million individuals whose insurance plans are not protected by the state parity laws.
Under these bills, (HR 1424 and S558) a group health insurance plan must ensure that the financial requirements applied to mental health benefits are no more restrictive than the financial requirements for medical and surgical benefits. Such financial requirements include deductables, copayments, co-insurance, out-of-pocket expenses, and annual and lifetime limits.
The plan must also ensure that the treatment limitations are no more restrictive than the treatment limitations for medical and surgical benefits. Such treatment limitations include, limits on the frequency of treatment, number of visits, days of coverage, or other limits on the scope and duration of treatment. ("Bridging the Gap Between S558 and HR 1424")