Mental Health Parity

Following years of strong advocacy by The Practice Organization for full mental health parity, the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity & Addiction Equity Act MHPAEA became law in October 2008.  With the February 2010 publication of the Interim Final Rule IFR, clear guidance and strong consumer protections became effective for health plan years beginning on or after July 1, 2010. For most plans, this means that the IFR applied on January 1, 2011.

• Comments on Essential Health Benefits rulemaking

• Department of Labor releases new FAQs on parity implementation

• GAO report guages parity law's impact

• Comment letter: October 5, 2011 (PDF, 140KB)
  Letter from APA Practice Organization and the Florida Psychological Association asserting that a rate cut by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida violates the federal parity law because only mental health rates were reduced.

• Compliance Issues Arise with Mental Health Parity Implementation  (PDF, 170KB)

• Is that insurance company avoiding the parity law?

• Few Americans aware of mental health parity law

• Mental health parity implementation update

• Implementation of the federal parity law  (PDF, 230KB)

• Since you asked… about implementation of the federal parity law

• Update on regulatory implementation of federal parity law

• Summary of the interim final rule implementing the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act  (PDF, 56KB)

• Six points you need to know about the mental health parity law

• Mental health parity rule is favorable for psychology

• Federal law is on verge of implementation

• FYI: Mental health insurance under the federal parity law  (PDF, 97KB)

• How does the new mental health parity law affect my insurance coverage? (PDF, 1.2MB)                             

• Mental health parity Q & A

• An employer’s guide to the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (PDF, 479KB) 

• Nordal's mental health parity radio tour reaches 12 million listeners

• New resource helps clients and consumers understand the mental health parity law

• More pointers on working with local journalists 

• Nordal delivers psychologists’ concerns at mental health parity conference 

• Letter from Katherine C. Nordal, PhD, to members announcing the passage of mental health parity

• APA Practice calls for end to discriminatory limits to mental health services

• The Wellstone-Domenici Mental Health Parity Act of 2008: Questions and answers for psychologists

• Full mental health parity is now law  

• Summary of the new parity law

• House and Senate pass parity bills

• Parity legislation achieves historic milestone 

• Senate and House achieve historic agreement on parity  

• The Senate Mental Health Parity Bill provides complete parity (PDF, 3.8MB)

• Senate passes Mental Health Parity Act

• Psychology leaders boost support for Senate parity 

• APA lends strong support to Senate parity bill 

• Study finds no cost increase for mental health parity in federal employee health benefit program

• Regarding the actuarial costs of mental health and substance abuse parity (PDF, 20KB)

• Testimony by APA to the U.S. House of Representatives 2002 hearing on mental health parity