Mental Health Parity Changes Take Effect January 1, 2010

September 1, 2009 at 8:29 pm by: HR Hero

It’s time for employers to examine their health benefits to see if they’re in compliance with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Act of 2008, which takes effect on January 1, 2010.

The law applies to most employers with more than 50 employees. It requires covered employers that offer a health insurance plan with mental health coverage to provide the mental health benefits at the same level as medical and surgical benefits, including deductibles, copayments, out-of-pocket expenses, inpatient stays, and outpatient visits. The law ends limits on mental health coverage, such as 30-day hospital stays and 35 visits a year to a mental health professional, if a company’s plan doesn’t have similar limits for physical ailments. Also, if a plan offers out-of-network coverage for physical illnesses, beginning January 1, 2010 it will have to offer similar out-of-network coverage for mental health care.

Labels: insurance, legislation, parity

posted by Matthew Norman, M.D. at 7:52:00 AM