What are My Legal Rights?
Laws have been enacted by the US Congress and by numerous state legislatures to improve access to mental healthcare and to reduce obstacles raised by insurance companies.
These laws are subject to enforcement by regulators and through lawsuits.
The links below may help you to learn more about your legal rights.
This website exists because these laws have not yet removed all obstacles.
The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) prohibits health plans from imposing barriers on access to mental health or substance use disorder benefits that do not apply to medical and surgical benefits. For a summary, visit https://store.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/pep21-05-00-003.pdf
The Kennedy Forum maintains a resource of state-by-state laws and regulations related to insurance coverage for mental health and substance use disorder care. https://www.paritytrack.org/reports
To learn more about the latest lawsuits related to insurance company obstacles, these search terms may be helpful:
- “ERISA litigation mental health”
- “ERISA litigation substance use disorder”
- “Wit United Behavioral Health”
- “MHPAEA litigation”
- “Mental health parity cases”
