On September 8, 2026, the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (“EBSA”) issued Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2026-03 (the “FAB”), outlining a new set of guiding principles for enforcing the nonquantitative treatment limitation (“NQTL”) requirements under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (“MHPAEA”), as amended by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (“CAA
Mental Health Parity
Departments Press Pause on Final Mental Health Parity Regulations
Yesterday, the Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services announced a non-enforcement policy with respect to final regulations issued under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (“MHPAEA”) in September 2024. The Departments recently indicated that this policy was imminent when they requested that litigation challenging the final regulations be…
Final Mental Health Parity Regulations Released, with Plan Sponsor Action Required by 2025
Last week, the Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services finalized regulations implementing the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA). Although the final regulations step back from certain burdensome aspects of the proposed rules (which we blogged about here), compliance with the final rules will require action from…
District Court Dismisses Class Action Seeking Wilderness Therapy Benefits
A federal district court rebuffed putative class claims alleging that Cigna Health and Life Insurance Co. and two of the plans it administered violated the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (“MHPAEA”) by denying coverage for wilderness therapy. S.F. v. CIGNA Health & Life Ins. Co., 2024 WL 1912359 (D. Utah…