Changes coming to key mental health care law, comments due Oct. 2

Key takeaways:

• Amendments to a mental health and addiction care law are intended to cut down on prior authorizations.
• Public comments on the updates must be submitted by Oct. 2.

Several updates have been proposed for a key law upholding access to mental health and addiction care, and the federal government is taking public comments on them until Oct. 2.

The proposed amendments to the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) are expected to result in fewer, and less restrictive, prior authorization requirements for mental health and substance use disorder treatment, as well as “more robust” networks of providers, according to a notice in the Federal Register.

The Department of Treasury, Department of Labor and HHS are seeking public comment on “all aspects” of the changes, as well as several specific areas of interest highlighted in the notice. Comments must be received no later than Oct. 2 and can be submitted online at www.regulations.gov or by mail to the Employee Benefits Security Administration.

Under the new rules, health insurance plans and issuers would be required to perform assessments ensuring that nonquantitative treatment limitations, such as prior authorizations, are not restricting access to benefits for mental health and substance use disorder vs. medical and surgical benefits.

The changes include a “specific focus” on making sure that network composition standards do not lead to “material differences” in access. The updates also include new examples, and amend existing examples, of how the rules on nonquantitative treatment limitations should be applied.

The American Psychiatric Association released a statement, saying that it “applauds” the rule changes.

“Today’s actions from the White House to bolster and strengthen enforcement of the nearly 15-year-old mental health parity law are important steps toward ensuring more Americans who need these services can access them,” the organization stated.

Reference:

• APA statement on White House action to strengthen mental health parity. https://www.psychiatry.org/News-room/News-Releases/Action-to-Strengthen-Mental-Health-Parity. Published July 25, 2023. Accessed Sept. 1, 2023.