On April 14, the Mental Health Liaison Group (MHLG), of which ASAM is a member, sent a letter to the sponsors of the Parity Enforcement Act (H.R. 1364), Representatives Donald Norcross (D-NJ-1), Ann Kuster (D-NH-2), Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-1), and Joe Courtney (D-CT-2) in support of the legislation. H.R. 1364, which is scheduled to be heard by the House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions on April 15, would give the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) a critical tool to ensure health plan compliance with the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (Federal Parity Act).

The letter emphasizes that under current law, USDOL lacks sufficient tools to ensure compliance with the Federal Parity Act. H.R. 1364 would correct this issue by amending the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) to give USDOL the authority to levy civil monetary penalties against health insurers and plan sponsors for parity violations. Improving the USDOL's enforcement authority on parity issues is a widely agreed upon policy change, with both President Obama’s Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders Parity Task Force, and President Trump’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis having called for the change. 

Read the letter here.

Read the bill here.

Watch the hearing here.