WASHINGTON, December 5, 2022 – The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) today called upon Congress to pass two vitally important measures that address the nation’s mental health and substance abuse crises as part of a year-end package. Specifically, employer groups support extending the flexibility for Health Savings Account (HSA)-eligible high-deductible health plans to offer telehealth services prior to a patient paying through their deductible (as proposed in the Telehealth Expansion Act), and reauthorizing and reforming numerous mental health programs that were included in the House-passed Restoring Hope for Mental Health and Well-Being Act (H.R. 7666), which would also promote the integration of behavioral and primary health care, and require transparency for employers in the drug supply chain.
“It is important to ERIC members that continuity of benefits combine with quality access to affordable behavioral health care for employees,” said ERIC President James Gelfand. “We hope that Congress will reauthorize and improve existing federal mental health treatment and recovery programs and continue allowing patients to access telehealth services pre-deductible in 2023.”
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