labor lawAdivision of labor law center

The Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 requires that mental health treatments receive parity with other kinds of treatments under a group health insurance plan. It means that the same amounts be designated for mental health treatments as the amounts allocated for all other kinds of treatment, so that an employee can receive the same kind of care if he or she suffers from a psychological ailment that he or she does in case of a physical problem.

Under Arizona employee benefit, an employer is free to decide whether to include mental health coverage as a part of the group health insurance or not. Before the enactment of the MHPA in 1996, an employer who chose to include mental health coverage could also decide what amounts to allocate to it. As a consequence, a health insurance plan could have a provision of a million dollars for surgery, but a meager thousand dollars for mental health. Needless to say, these amounts were never enough for good mental treatment.

At the time of its enactment, the MHPA was supposed to expire in 2001. But every time it neared expiry, it was amended and its tenure extended. Thus it has been amended five times, the last of which took place in February 2007. Now, it is meant to last till December 2007. The employees should have their fingers crossed for it to be extended again, or be replaced by another law that is meant to stay for good, since it is in their collective benefit.

The greater part of American workers with insurance is covered by employee benefit plans. The federal government has a dedicated agency to enforce the laws regarding employee benefits and pension plans. It is called the Employee Benefits Security Administration, or EBSA. Approximately, a little more than 150 million workers are covered under EBSA plans. As is apparent from its name, the agency handles as many violations of law concerning health care as pensions.

 

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1. Posted by: Tia

   Hi,
   Nice article!Thanks for the information.

   Tia,

2. Posted by: Amelia

   You’re welcome, Tia!!~ Amelia