labor lawAdivision of labor law center

Many people have questions on the coverage for mental health treatments under their health insurance plans. A recent extension of the federal MHPA law addresses those concerns.

Today, is illegal for a health insurance plan to pay a lower amount for mental health treatments, than it pays for other health treatments. That is determined by the Mental Health Parity Act, known as the MHPA, which was approved in 1996. Prior to 1996, a health insurance plan could pay $85,000 per year for surgery and only pay $5,000 per year for mental health treatment. Today that is not permitted, and would be illegal.

Under the federal and Tennessee employee benefit laws, if an insurance plan includes mental health coverage, it must pay the same as it pays for medical treatments.

The MHPA was originally set to expire on September 30, 2001, but that deadline has been postponed 5 times. In February, the MHPA was extended one more time, and the new expiration date was set to December 31, 2007. All the indications are that the law will be extended again.

The Employee Benefits Security Administration, or ESBA, is the federal agency that handles violations of law concerning health care and pensions. The ESBA oversees plans covers more than 150 million people across the country. The agency controls the execution of the law regarding employee benefits and pension plans.

For those that ask if there is any law that obliges a health insurer to cover any mental health treatments, the answer is “No.” Some employers offer plans that include mental health treatments such as psychiatric care or therapy, but there are many plans that do not cover them. MHPA determines that if mental health benefits are covered, they must be at the same level of coverage as medical treatments. However, they do not require that mental health treatments be covered.

Tennessee is no different than those states with “South” in the first part of their name. In the case of the Rocky Top state, all new employers must also file with the proper Tennessee unemployment insurance authorities. To be specific, you must file a Report to Determine Status/Application for Employer Number, or the LB-0441 form for short.

Like other forms with equally literal names in other states, the Report to Determine Status/Application for Employer Number form allows the Tennessee unemployment insurance tax authorities determine if you are liable to pay the taxes that finance the unemployment insurance system in the state. If you are liable, they will then assign you a number and open up an account for you in the system.

If that is the case with you, you will then be expected to report on your employee wages each quarter, and then pay taxes on them too. You can do so by using another form in the state arsenal of forms, the Wage and Premium Report, or LB-0456. The state also allows employers to report their employee wages through magnetic tape.

In general, most employers in the state of Tennessee are required to pay taxes into the state unemployment insurance trust fund on up to the first $7000 of each of their employee’s wages. New employers pay a 2.7 percent rate on this $7000, though employers in the construction and mining industries may be required to pay a higher rate on their employees as a new employer.

Then you remember what happens next. After three consecutive years as a new employer, the Tennessee employers then face what is called an “experience” tax rate. This tax rate is based on how well the company has “performed”—meaning, how many formers employees the company has had on unemployment insurance. If a company provides accurate and timely reports to the state, that also can help in making them a better performing employer.

Unemployment Insurance is a joint federal and state program that provides benefits to unemployed workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own. Since the program helps the unemployed buy necessities during short-term unemployment, the unemployed can continue to buy goods and services in their communities, helping local economies remain stable.

Unemployment Insurance benefits are paid from the Tennessee Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. This fund is only used to pay benefits to Tennessee’s unemployed, and, as stated in Tennessee Unemployment Insurance posters, the fund is financed entirely by Tennessee employers.

Most employers are liable under the Tennessee Employment Security Law. An employer’s liability is based on criteria set by federal law.

All employers doing business in Tennessee are required to complete and file the Report to Determine Status/Application for Employer Number, LB-0441, to determine their liability for Unemployment Insurance. Employers liable for Unemployment Insurance will be assigned an employer account number.

Liable employers are required to report and pay premiums on employee wages each quarter as well as post Tennessee Unemployment Insurance posters in a visible location.

Employers have the option of reporting employee wages on the paper Wage and Premium Report or by magnetic media. Beginning January 1, 1997, all employers reporting 250 or more employees will be required to report their wage information by magnetic media.

Most employers are liable to pay premiums into the trust fund on the first $7,000 paid to each employee during a calendar year.

Premium rates for new non-governmental employers are based on the experience of the employer’s industry grouping if the industry grouping has an exceptionally high benefit payout. All other new employers are assigned a 2.7% new employer premium rate. Historically construction and mining are the only two industries with new employer rates greater than 2.7%.

Employers liable for premiums for three consecutive calendar years as of December 31 have rates based on their experience. Premium rates range from 0.0% to 10% for non-governmental employers and from 0.3% to 3% for governmental employers.

State and local governments and certain nonprofit employers have the option of paying premiums or reimbursing the trust fund for their proportion of benefits paid to former employees.

Employees learn from reading Tennessee Unemployment Insurance posters that they can apply for UI by going to an Employment Security office. Employment Security offices are the local offices where unemployed workers file their claims for unemployment benefits and register with Job Service. These offices are listed under Employment Security in the state government section of your phone book.

I have found that when it comes to the Unemployment Insurance Law, just about every state follows the same basic Federal guidelines. What is different from state to state is the percentage of monetary compensation that an employee can expect to receive when he or she is on unemployment collections.

Basically unemployment is something that some workers can collect. The insurance for unemployment is paid for by employers, not by tax-payers or by social security. Therefore, there is some confusion sometimes about who actually stands to benefit from the unemployment, as many people confuse it with social security.

In general, there are some basic requirements that you must meet in order to ensure that you are eligible for unemployment benefits. First, you must have first been employed. You must have received a base pay for a base period of time. Next, you must be determined to be unemployed through no fault of your own, as defined by the Tennessee law. In general, this means that you may have been laid off or maybe your work place has closed.

Once you have been determined to be eligible to begin collecting unemployment benefits, you must file ongoing claims in order to ensure that you stay eligible. Each week, you must report as to which jobs (and how many) you have applied for. There is a minimum number of jobs that you must try to get. If you do receive a job offer, you must have a good reason for turning it down if you do turn it down.

If you receive a part time job offer, you may still be eligible to receive partial unemployment benefits. In general, the amount of your pay will be subtracted from the amount of money that you would normally receive through unemployment. If any agent ever asks you for a report or inspection of your situation, you must also oblige them in order to continue receiving benefits.

A detailed description of Tennessee’s unemployment laws are available on the Tennessee Complete Labor Law poster.