Mental Health Parity Act
The Mental Health Parity Act (MHPA) is legislation signed into United States law on September 26, 1996 that requires annual or lifetime dollar limits on mental health benefits to be no lower than any such dollar limits for medical and surgical benefits offered by a group health plan or health insurance issuer offering coverage in connection with a group health plan. Prior to MHPA and similar legislation, insurers were not required to cover mental health care and so access to treatment was limited, underscoring the importance of the act.

The MHPA was largely superseded by the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA), which the 110th United States Congress passed as rider legislation on the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), signed into law by President George W. Bush in October 2008. Notably, the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act extended the reach of MHPAEA provisions to many health insurance plans outside its previous scope.
Q30
United States
LOC
Q317309
mental health
Concept
Q5611238
group health plan
Concept
Q334911
health insurance
Concept
Q731783
Paul Wellstone
PER
Q964959
Pete Domenici
PER
Q170018
110th United States Congress
EVE
Q1058801
rider
Concept
Q2097742
Troubled Asset Relief Program
PER
Q207
George W. Bush
PER
Q1414593
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
PER
Q6817415
Mental Health Parity Act
MEDIA
1996-09-26T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
September 26, 1996
DATE
2008-10-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
October 2008
DATE
2010-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2010
DATE
country