The law covered mental illnesses, but it did not cover treatment of substance abuse or chemical dependency. It applied only to employers that offered mental health benefits, both fully insured state-regulated health plans and self-insured plans that are exempt from state laws under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), and also small business exemption which excluded businesses with 50 or less employees. The law allowed an increased cost exemption, which stated that employers that can demonstrate a one percent or more rise in costs due to parity implementation will be allowed to exempt themselves from the law.
The Mental Health Parity Act did not include rules for service charges, designations for the number of inpatient hospital days or outpatient visits that must be covered, coverage in connection with Medicare or Medicaid, restrictions on a health insurance plan’s ability to manage care, and coverage for treatment of substance abuse or chemical dependency.
I do not think that the Mental Health Parity Act was successful, because there are many people still in this world who don’t have insurance have to pay more than what people with insurance do. Even some people