Compliance News Week Ending May 23, 2025

In this Article

One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB)

Mental Health Parity - Non-Enforcement of Final Rule

One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB)

On Thursday, May 22nd, the new tax bill named the One Big Beautiful Bill passed the House and moved onto the Senate.

Last week in our Compliance News Week Ending May 16, 2025, we published an article about this bill and listed some of the proposed revisions to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Individual Coverage HRAs (ICHRAs).

Resources

Mental Health Parity – Non-Enforcement of Final Rule

Based on a May 9th court filing, the DOL and HHS have indicated they intend to publish a non-enforcement policy with respect to certain provisions of the Mental Health Parity & Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) final rule that were effective beginning in 2025 and 2026 pending a complete review of the final rule.

While the fully insured carriers are responsible for the regulations for fully insured plans that offer mental health and substance use disorder benefits, these regulations as well as recent revisions and halting of the latest final rule do apply to self-funded and level-funded group health plans.

The written comparative analysis for non-quantitative treatment limitations (NQTLs) is still required as it was added by Congress in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 along with a high-level description of the content that should be included. Employers are encouraged to continue with such efforts in case of agency audit or participant request until there is something very clear indicating otherwise from Congress or the agencies.

Resources

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