The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) is a United States federal law that requires insurance companies to provide mental health and addiction treatment at the same rates as physical health treatments. The MHPAEA was passed in response to the recognition that mental health and addiction are illnesses, just like cancer or heart disease.
The MHPAEA applies to all private and public health plans that administer benefits, including Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and many other insurance programs. It also applies to workers' compensation and disability programs.
In order to ensure that everyone has access to mental health parity, the MHPAEA includes several important provisions:
Insurers must cover all types of mental health services, including substance abuse treatment.
They must cover co-occurring disorders such as depression and anxiety alongside substance abuse disorder treatment.
They must cover preventive services such as therapy for bipolar disorder or stress management counseling for people with chronic pain conditions.
Furthermore, they must cover residential treatment for people with serious emotional disabilities who need help living in the community.
The MHPAEA requires insurers to cover mental health and addiction treatments on an equal basis with physical health treatments. This means that mental health care must be included in all policies, no matter how old the policy is or how much it costs. Insurers cannot charge different rates for mental health care than they do for physical healthcare.