Mental health parity: federal law may trump the states

Proposed federal legislation on mental health parity would greatly expand the scope of the federal law, preempting many of the recently passed state laws, and adding new uncertainty to the already-confusing interplay of state and federal regulation of employer-provided health benefit plans. While the proposed federal legislation is intended to be more consistent with the state laws, it would, in fact, preempt many of these laws and raise questions about the status of other state laws and the issue of state and federal jurisdiction other insurance regulation. The bill would preclude plans from imposing any treatment limitations or financial requirements for mental health benefits unless they are comparable to treatment limitations or financial requirements for medical and surgical benefits.