Mental Health Parity Act of 1996
E679346
The Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 was a U.S. federal law that first required group health plans to provide more equal insurance coverage for mental health services compared to medical and surgical benefits, laying groundwork for later, stronger parity protections.
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
United States federal law
ⓘ
health insurance regulation ⓘ |
| addresses | discriminatory insurance limits on mental health care ⓘ |
| allows | exemptions for plans with significant cost increases ⓘ |
| appliesTo |
group health plans
ⓘ
large employer-sponsored health plans ⓘ |
| benefits |
enrollees in group health plans
ⓘ
people with mental health conditions ⓘ |
| comparisonCategory | medical and surgical benefits ⓘ |
| country |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| doesNotAddress | substance use disorder benefits parity ⓘ |
| enforcementMechanism | federal regulation of group health plans ⓘ |
| exemptionType | cost increase exemption ⓘ |
| focusesOn | financial limits on coverage rather than treatment limits ⓘ |
| followedBy |
Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| historicalSignificance |
first major federal mental health parity law in the United States
ⓘ
marked a shift toward recognizing mental health as comparable to physical health in insurance law ⓘ |
| implementedThrough | employer-sponsored health plans subject to federal law ⓘ |
| influencedBy |
advocacy from mental health organizations
ⓘ
growing recognition of mental illness as a major public health issue ⓘ |
| jurisdiction |
United States government
ⓘ
surface form:
federal government of the United States
|
| laysGroundworkFor |
Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act implementation
ⓘ
stronger federal mental health parity protections ⓘ |
| legalDomain | health law ⓘ |
| legalStatus | enacted ⓘ |
| legislativeBody | United States Congress ⓘ |
| partOf | United States federal mental health policy ⓘ |
| policyArea |
health insurance regulation
ⓘ
health policy ⓘ mental health policy ⓘ |
| precededBy | limited state mental health parity laws ⓘ |
| purpose |
to improve equity in insurance coverage for mental health services
ⓘ
to prohibit large differences in annual and lifetime dollar limits between mental health and medical-surgical benefits ⓘ |
| regulates |
annual dollar limits on mental health benefits
ⓘ
lifetime dollar limits on mental health benefits ⓘ |
| regulatoryDomain | private health insurance ⓘ |
| relatedTo |
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| requiresParityFor |
annual dollar limits
ⓘ
lifetime dollar limits ⓘ |
| scopeLimitation |
did not address visit limits or other non-dollar treatment limits
ⓘ
did not require coverage of mental health benefits ⓘ |
| subjectMatter |
mental health insurance coverage
ⓘ
parity between mental health and medical-surgical benefits ⓘ |
| targets | disparities in coverage between mental health and medical-surgical care ⓘ |
| timeContext | 1990s U.S. health reform era ⓘ |
| typeOfParity | financial parity for dollar limits ⓘ |
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008
→
replaces
→
Mental Health Parity Act of 1996
ⓘ
Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008
→
influencedBy
→
Mental Health Parity Act of 1996
ⓘ