Ima Nsien

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Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act Final Rules (“Final Rules”) Are Released: Plans and Issuers Must Prepare for January 1, 2025 Effective Date (US)

The long-awaited Final Rules amending the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (“MHPAEA”) were released on September 9, 2024, with the bulk of the requirements going into effect on January 1, 2025. As we previously reported here, in August 2023, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (“HHS”) and Treasury (together, the “Departments”) … Continue Reading

California Takes Steps Towards a Unified Health Care Financing System

On October 7, 2023, California’s Governor approved Senate Bill (“SB”) 770, which directs the Secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency (“Secretary”) to take steps towards designing a health care delivery system that provides benefits through a unified health care financing system, such as a single-payer health care system. Prior law established the … Continue Reading

The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury Issue Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Related to the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act

On July 25, 2023, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (the “Departments”) proposed rules designed to strengthen the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act’s (“MHPAEA”) goal of ensuring people seeking treatment for mental health and substance use disorders (“MH/SUD”) face no greater barriers to accessing care than those seeking … Continue Reading

California’s Senate Bill 1019 Seeks to Expand Access to Mental Health Benefits for Medicaid Enrollees

In an effort to expand access to mental health services, on September 30, 2022, California’s Governor approved Senate Bill 1019, which modifies the California Welfare & Institutions Code as it relates to Medi-Cal managed care plans (“MMCP”). No later than January 1, 2025, MMCPs must develop and implement an annual outreach and education plan for … Continue Reading

The 2022 Proposed Rule on Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act Reflects a History of Competing Views on the Definition of Discrimination On the Basis of Sex in Healthcare Programs

On August 4, 2022, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) issued its proposed rule on Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). Section 1557 prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability in certain health programs or activities, if any part of the program or activity … Continue Reading
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