WASHINGTON, August 9, 2023 – The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) and several health plans, employers, and associations sent a request to the Department of Labor/Employee Benefits Security Administration, U.S. Department to Health and Human Services/Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and Department of Treasury/Internal Revenue Service’s to extend the comment periods for the recently released Notice of Proposed Rulemaking CMS-9902-P Requirements Related to the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (Proposed Rule) and Technical Release 2023-01P Request for Comment on Proposed Relevant Data Requirements for Nonquantitative Treatment Limitations (NQTLs) Related to Network Composition and Enforcement Safe Harbor for Group Health Plans and Health Insurance Issuers Subject to the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (Technical Release). For the reasons outlined in the letter.
The following should be attributed to James Gelfand, President and CEO of ERIC:
“The Proposed Rule on the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act and Technical Release requires extensive review, and 60 days is an unreasonable amount of time to submit a thoughtful response to the agencies. ERIC, along with seven other associations representing insurance companies and employers, have requested an extension of the comment period to review these proposals to help guard against unintended consequences for patients, providers, health plans, and participants.”