The Obama Administration issued interim final regulations for the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) Feb. 2, 2010.

MHPAEA builds upon the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996, which required parity only in total lifetime and annual dollar limits among the categories of benefits and did not extend to substance use disorder benefits. The legislation was passed in October 2008.

The interim final regulations were issued by the Treasury Department, the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and published in the Feb. 2, 2010, issue of the Federal Register.

The long awaited regulations apply to group health plans for plan years beginning after June 30, 2010, or January 1, 2010 for calendar year plans. HHS will be accepting public comment on the rules until May 3, 2010.

MHPAEA requires businesses that offer mental health coverage to provide benefits that are comparable to the benefits provided for physical ailments. This requirement does not apply to businesses with less than 50 employees. It also does not require plans to offer such coverage, but it does require the plans mental and physical ailment benefits to be equal if they do.

In short, the proposal calls for ending higher copays, deductibles, and out-of-pocket costs for mental health treatment, compared with remedies for physical ailments.

Small businesses are encouraged to review their health plans to ensure that they are in compliance with the interim final regulations. Click here to read an Alston and Bird, LLP, a Washington-based law firm summary of the interim final rules.