Departments (Finally) Respond to MHPAEA Complaint

Employers have been waiting anxiously for a resolution in the January  17 2025 complaint filed against the 2024 Mental Health Parity Final Rules. This week, the Departments finally responded with a motion to stay the proceedings in a Federal Court, which was granted. Within 90 days, the Departments must report back to the Court on their efforts to ‘reconsider’ the Final Rules, which may involve redrafting, modifying or rescinding the Final Rule altogether.

The Final Rules added several layers of fiduciary responsibility for employer plan sponsors, without the working data to adequately assist employers in their compliance efforts.

What does this mean for employers today? As we wait for the next steps in this evolving issue, employers should continue to make all efforts to comply with the Mental Health Parity Law including working with carriers and TPAs to ensure mental health and substance abuse benefits are ‘on par’ with other benefits covered by the medical plan. The requirement to have a comparative analysis of any non-quantitative treatment limitations (NQTLs) still stands under earlier rules. 

---