U.S. Department of Labor
Health Benefits Advisor
Glossary
Mental Health Parity Act (MHPA)
MHPA is a Federal law that requires annual or lifetime dollar limits on mental health benefits provided by a group health plan to be no lower than the annual or lifetime dollar limits for medical and surgical benefits offered by that plan. MHPA applies to employers with more than 50 employees.
NOTE: The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) requires group health plans and health insurance issuers to ensure that financial requirements (such as co-pays, deductibles) and treatment limitations (such as visit limits) applicable to mental health or substance use disorder (MH/SUD) benefits are no more restrictive than the predominant requirements or limitations applied to substantially all medical/surgical benefits.
