New Mental Health Rule Introduces Employer Benefit Parity Test

The Biden administration is poised to issue a final rule toughening mandates for employer-sponsored health plans to provide mental health and substance abuse coverage on par with their traditional medical benefits.

“Mental health care is health care,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “But for far too many Americans, critical care and treatments are out of reach.”

The rule will be released Monday (RIN: 1210-AC11) by the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury, and will require detailed analyses from employers with self-insured plans to determine whether their mental health benefits comply with the ...