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.

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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

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Referenced by (3)

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