New Mental Health Parity Regs Are Unworkable, Insurers Say

Insurer and plan sponsor trade groups strongly oppose the Biden administration’s stepped-up mental health parity regulations, according to statements and public comment letters submitted in response to the latest rulemaking on the subject. Insurer groups AHIP, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) and the Alliance of Community Health Plans (ACHP) all lined up against the rulemaking, as did the ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC), a plan sponsor group.

According to the insurer and plan sponsor groups, the proposed rules, which were released in July, are unworkable. They argue that there are simply not enough providers available to meet the more stringent requirements set out in the proposed regulations. The current round of rules, if implemented, would expand the list of conditions covered by parity rules, require additional data reporting and establish stronger network adequacy standards. Both plan sponsors and carriers could be held liable for violations of most provisions in the Biden administration’s proposed regulations.

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Peter Johnson

Peter Johnson

Peter has worked as a journalist since 2011 and has covered health care since 2020. At AIS Health, Peter covers trends in finance, business and policy that affect the health insurance and pharma sectors. For Health Plan Weekly, he covers all aspects of the U.S. health insurance sector, including employer-sponsored insurance, Medicaid managed care, Medicare Advantage and the Affordable Care Act individual marketplaces. In Radar on Drug Benefits, Peter covers the operations of (and conflicts between) pharmacy benefit managers and pharmaceutical manufacturers, with a particular focus on pricing dynamics and market access. Before joining AIS Health, Peter covered transportation, public safety and local government for various outlets in Seattle, his hometown and current place of residence. He graduated with a B.A. from Colby College.

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