IRS Issues Notice of Medical Necessity Criteria under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008; Comments Due August 22

Published June 23, 2022

The Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued an information collection for comments before submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to revise previously approved final rules implementing the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) of 2008. MHPAEA requires parity between mental health or substance use disorder benefits and medical/surgical benefits for financial requirements and treatment limitations under group health plans and group and individual health insurance coverage.

The Consolidated Appropriation Act (CAA) amended MHPAEA, in part, by requiring group health plans to perform and document a comparative analysis of the design and application of any non-quantitative treatment limitations (NQTLs) that apply to medical/surgical and mental health and substance use disorder benefits.

Comments submitted will be summarized and/or included in the request for OMB approval.

Comments are due August 22, 2022.