Employers sue to block mental health parity rule: 5 notes

The ERISA Industry Committee filed a lawsuit in federal court in Washington, D.C., Jan. 17. 

Tom Christina, executive director of the committee’s legal center, said in a Jan. 17 statement that the group’s member employees offer mental health and substance use disorder benefits to employees, but think the regulation exceeds the authority of HHS and the departments of Labor and Treasury. 

Here are five notes on the new rule and the legal challenge: 

1. The rules, finalized by the Biden administration in September, bar insurers from implementing more restrictive prior authorizations on mental health and substance use services than those for medical services. The rule also requires health plans to ensure the outcomes of their mental health coverage policies are equal with those for other forms of care. 
2. Several mental health organizations, including the American Psychiatric Association, the National Alliance on Mental Illness and Mental Health America, backed the new rule. 
3. Some mental health providers predicted the new parity rules would not have a large effect on finances. Universal Health Services CFO Steve Filton said in October, he did think expanded mental health parity rules will affect the system’s volumes. 
4. Many of the rules provisions took effect Jan. 1. The committee argued the short timeline gave employers and insurers little time to implement the new rule. 
5. Some insurer groups also opposed the rule. The legal challenge was brought by large employers, not payers. 

Read more here. 

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