On July 24, the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) submitted comments on the Department of Labor’s (DOL) proposed update to the 2020 MHPAEA Self-Compliance Tool. The letter commended DOL for the updates to the Self-Compliance Tool, and offered several detailed recommendations to clarify and strengthen the tool further.

The letter noted that DOL's proposed revisions will ensure a more uniform interpretation of commonly applied non-quantitative treatment limitations (NQTLs) and will help consumers and regulators enforce the Parity Act’s protections. The letter additionally observed that a stronger compliance framework is needed to ensure rigorous internal plan review prior to the offering of plans and to relieve regulators and consumers of the heavy and unrealistic burden to identify violations when they have limited or no access to essential plan documents. Furthermore, the letter stressed that the NAIC Market Conduct template, which is identified as a possible tool for data gathering and compliance review, is inadequate to ensure compliance with the Parity Act. Rather, DOL should identify the DOL Self-Compliance Tool itself for purposes of compliance testing and guidance.

Read ASAM's comments here.

Read DOL's proposed changes here.