Mental Health Parity Act Extended to End of Year

Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Washington, DC - The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) today announced a technical amendment extending the interim final rules under the Mental Health Parity Act (MHPA) to December 31, 2006.

President Bush signed the extension December 30, 2005, as part of the Employee Retirement Preservation Act (P.L. 109-151, 119 Stat. 2886).

The original MHPA contained a sunset provision requiring that provisions of the act would not apply to benefits for services furnished on or after September 30, 2001. MHPA has been amended four times before to extend the sunset date.

MPHA requires that annual or lifetime dollar limits for mental heath benefits be no lower than the dollar limits for medical/surgical benefits offered by a group health plan. The act applies to group health plans or health insurance coverage offered by issuers in connection with a group health plan that offers both mental health and medical/surgical benefits. However, it does not require plans to offer mental health benefits.

The technical amendment extending the sunset date is published in today’s Federal Register. For more information about mental health benefits, contact EBSA at 1.866.444.EBSA (3272) or visit the Web site at www.dol.gov/ebsa to obtain a free copy of “Questions and Answers: Recent Changes in Health Care Law.”

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Archived News Release — Caution: Information may be out of date.

Contact Name: David James/Gloria Della
Phone Number: 202.693.4676/202.693.8664