Recent Mental Health Parity Guidance — A Good Reminder to Review Your Health Plan for Compliance

Posted on: July 5, 2017 By:

The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (“MHPAEA”) generally requires that the financial requirements and treatment limitations that apply to mental health and substance use disorder (“MH/SUD”) benefits cannot be more restrictive than the financial requirements and treatment limitations that apply to medical and surgical (“M/S”) benefits.  Financial requirements include, for example, deductibles and coinsurance.  Treatment limitations can be quantitative (e.g., limits on the number of days or visits covered under the plan) or non-quantitative (“NQTL”) (e.g., requiring participants to obtain prior authorization before treatment).

The MHPAEA and its implementing regulations also require plan administrators to provide various disclosures upon request regarding MH/SUD benefits.  Read More ›

Posted in Employee Benefits, Health & Welfare Plans, Health Care Reform | Tagged , , , , , , ,

Share this Article:

Curing What Ails You – Relief for Small Employer HRAs

Posted on: February 22, 2017 By:

The impact of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) on health reimbursement arrangements (“HRAs”) has not been favorable.  Many employers got rid of their HRAs or integrated them with a major medical plan in order to avoid significant penalties under ACA.  These rules imposed a significant burden on small employers, because many small employers used HRAs to reimburse employees for the cost of individual health insurance policies they purchased rather than sponsor a group health plan.

In IRS Notice 2015-17, Q&A1, the IRS granted limited relief for small employer HRAs through June 30, 2015.  However, at the end of last year, small employers received greater relief in the form of the 21st Century Cures Act (the “Cures Act”). Read More ›

Posted in Health & Welfare Plans, Health Care Reform | Tagged , , , ,

Share this Article: