Final Behavioral Health Parity Rule Submitted to the White House

The U.S. Department of Labor submitted its final rule on behavioral health parity regulations. The proposed rule would strengthen the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act regulations and provide guidance around its implementation. It also requires health plans to study the impact of nonquantitative treatment limitations, like prior authorizations and step therapy, on healthcare access.

Since its initial proposal, the rule has gone through a lengthy public comment period. During this period, mental health advocates stressed the importance of ensuring parity for behavioral and physical health coverage, while payers argued that the new rule would be too burdensome.

After this public comment period, the Department of Labor had the chance to analyze all comments and decide whether to amend the rule. On July 10, 2024, the Department submitted the finalized rule to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget for their review. With this rule’s release, there is a new 60-day public comment period and then there will also be a 60-day delay in implementing the rule from its effective date. The ACA team will continue to monitor, and keep our community updated as things progress.

For more information or if you would like to become involved in ACA’s advocacy efforts, please contact the Government Affairs and Public Policy team at advocacy@counseling.org.