Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008

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The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 is a U.S. federal law that requires health insurance plans to provide mental health and substance use disorder benefits on equal terms with medical and surgical benefits.

All labels observed (5)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf United States federal law ⓘ
health insurance regulation ⓘ
addresses discrimination in coverage for mental health conditions ⓘ
discrimination in coverage for substance use disorders ⓘ
alsoKnownAs Wellstone-Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act ⓘ
amends Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ⓘ
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 ⓘ
Public Health Service Act ⓘ
appliesTo group health plans ⓘ
health insurance issuers offering group coverage ⓘ
complements state mental health parity laws ⓘ
country United States ⓘ
effectiveDate October 3, 2009 ⓘ
enactedBy United States Congress ⓘ
goal to ensure equal treatment of mental health and substance use disorder benefits ⓘ
implementedBy Department of Health and Human Services ⓘ
Department of Labor ⓘ
Department of the Treasury ⓘ
includes requirements for parity in annual and lifetime dollar limits ⓘ
requirements for parity in out-of-network coverage ⓘ
influencedBy Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 ⓘ
legalDomain health law ⓘ
insurance law ⓘ
partOf Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (as a rider) ⓘ
policyArea mental health policy ⓘ
substance abuse policy ⓘ
prohibits more restrictive financial requirements on mental health or substance use disorder benefits than on medical/surgical benefits ⓘ
more restrictive treatment limitations on mental health or substance use disorder benefits than on medical/surgical benefits ⓘ
protects beneficiaries of group health insurance coverage ⓘ
participants in employer-sponsored health plans ⓘ
regulates financial requirements such as copayments and deductibles ⓘ
treatment limitations such as visit limits and day limits ⓘ
relatedTo Affordable Care Act ⓘ
replaces Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 ⓘ
requires disclosure of criteria for medical necessity determinations for mental health and substance use disorder benefits upon request ⓘ
disclosure of reasons for denial of reimbursement or payment for mental health and substance use disorder services upon request ⓘ
requiresParityBetween mental health benefits and medical/surgical benefits ⓘ
substance use disorder benefits and medical/surgical benefits ⓘ
scopeLimitation applies only if a plan chooses to offer mental health or substance use disorder benefits ⓘ
does not require plans to offer mental health or substance use disorder benefits ⓘ
shortName MHPAEA ⓘ
signedBy George W. Bush ⓘ
sponsoredBy Paul Wellstone (in earlier parity efforts) ⓘ
linked to: Paul Wellstone

Pete Domenici (in earlier parity efforts) ⓘ
subject health insurance benefits ⓘ
mental health coverage ⓘ
substance use disorder coverage ⓘ
yearEnacted 2008 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (7)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Patrick J. Kennedy → notableWork → Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 ⓘ
Patrick J. Kennedy → coAuthorOf → Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 ⓘ
Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 → alsoKnownAs → Wellstone-Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act ⓘ
linked to: Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008
Paul Wellstone → namesake → Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act ⓘ
linked to: Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008
MHPAEA → fullName → Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act ⓘ
linked to: Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008
Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 → followedBy → Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 ⓘ
Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 → followedBy → Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 ⓘ
linked to: Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008