More than 25 years after the first federal mental health parity (MHP) protections were put in place, adequate coverage for behavioral health (BH) care, including both mental health and substance use conditions, remains elusive for many consumers with health insurance.

Federal mental health parity rules require health plans that offer BH coverage to ensure that financial requirements (such as deductibles, copayments, coinsurance, and out-of-pocket limits) and treatment limits (such as day and visit limits as well as nonquantitative limits on benefits such as prior authorization) on these benefits are no more restrictive than those on medical and surgical benefits.

The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened awareness and exacerbated existing challenges in BH. Strengthening BH parity protections is just one part of a larger policy discussion that includes addressing the BH workforce shortage,  rising BH treatment needs among children and youth, an inadequate health care infrastructure to address those in crisis, and the need for improved coordination and integration of primary care and BH care in the health care delivery system.

All of these issues contribute to the access and coverage challenges in health insurance that BH parity was supposed to address. The stakes are high for coverage protection, as nearly 90% of nonelderly individuals with a BH condition have some form of health coverage. Despite having coverage, many insured adults (36%) with moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety and depression did not receive care in 2019. There have been consistent calls for more federal guidance on the specific protections in the federal BH parity law, as well as for increased enforcement.

As Congress debates reforms to address these concerns in BH care, and as federal agencies plan to update parity regulations, a KFF released brief explains the federal BH parity requirements – including who they apply to and how they’re enforced — and sets out key policy issues.

Click for the complete KFF brief: MHP Lawat a Crossroads
Click for the article: Payers oppose House MHP bill
Click for the article: Payer group decries insurer fines in House MHP bill


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