Tri-Agencies Issue Final Rules Strengthening Access to Mental Health, and Substance Use Disorder Benefits

On September 9, 2024, the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury issued final rules requiring “group health plans and health insurance issuers offering group and individual health insurance coverage that offer mental health or substance use disorder benefits to cover those benefits in parity with medical and surgical benefits, without imposing greater restrictions on mental health or substance use disorder benefits as compared to medical and surgical benefits.” 

In support of the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to expand access to mental health and substance use disorder care, the departments issued these rules to reduce barriers to accessing such care pursuant to the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (“MHPAEA”). The rules create additional requirements for proving that non-quantitative treatment limitations for mental health and substance use disorder benefits comply with MHPAEA.