Washington, D.C. — The American Psychiatric Association (APA) expresses deep concern over the recent lawsuit filed by The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC), a trade association that advocates on behalf of large employers, which seeks to invalidate the Final Mental Health Parity Rule. The final rule is intended to improve access to timely care for mental health and substance use disorders by ensuring that insurers are held accountable to the public on the fair provision of these treatments.

Specifically, the rule, issued by the U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) and the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, requires that insurers:

• Perform and document comparative analyses for all non-quantitative treatment limitations (e.g., prior authorizations, step therapy) imposed on mental health and substance use disorder services.
• Make those analyses available to state and federal regulators and plan beneficiaries upon request.
• Produce information on outcomes, such as claims denials, and take action to address material differences in access to care.

“These final rules are a big part of ensuring that parity for mental health—the law of the land since 2008—is enforced,” said APA CEO and Medical Director Marketa M. Wills, M.D., M.B.A. “Take away the rules and you leave states, federal agencies, and the public with a huge information deficit, and you leave patients and their families, who are already struggling to access care, with fewer tools to get the life-saving treatment they deserve.”

American Psychiatric Association

The American Psychiatric Association, founded in 1844, is the oldest medical association in the country. The APA is also the largest psychiatric association in the world with more than 38,900 physician members specializing in the diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and research of mental illnesses. APA’s vision is to ensure access to quality psychiatric diagnosis and treatment. For more information, please visit www.psychiatry.org.