Federal Parity Legislation
The Paul Wellstone and Pete
Domenici Mental Health Parity
and Addiction Equity Act of 2008
was signed into law as part of
the Emergency Economic
Stabilization Act. The law
provides parity for
medical/surgical and mental
health/substance use benefits in
healthcare plans that offer
mental health/ substance use
coverage. Plans sponsored by
businesses with more than 50
employees will be required to
provide comparable day and visit
limits, deductibles, copays, and
out-of-network charges for
mental health/substance use
benefits. Previous legislation
provided parity on lifetime and
annual dollar limits. The law
takes effect January 1, 2010.
Learn more by visiting the
Partnership’s website.
Employer Survey Results: Mental Health Parity Law
The Partnership for Workplace Mental Health recently conducted a
survey of employers that focused on what impact the new federal
parity legislation will have on the provisions of the mental health and
substance use disorders benefits they offer. The survey was
designed to better understand current corporate benefit design and
what kinds of changes employers intend to make in order to comply
with the law.
The ten-question web based survey launched March 10, 2009, and
was open for two months. The survey was sent to approximately
1000 Partnership employer contacts. In addition, several employer
organizations promoted the survey to their memberships, including
the Midwest Business Group on Health, the Center for Health Value
Innovation, the Disability Management Employer Coalition, the Mid-
America Coalition on Health Care, the Employer Health Care
Alliance, and the New York Business Group on Health. Health plans
and members of the Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness
were also invited to send the survey to their employer customers,
and Mental Health America and George Washington University
promoted it to their contacts.
Respondent Demographics
The survey received a total of 143 responses. R