Complying With New Mental Health Parity Rules	Back to entire  webinar listing
	Now that the federal agencies charged with enforcing the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act ("MHPAEA") have finally issued regulations in this area, sponsors of employer group health plans will want to turn their attention to complying with the regulatory requirements.  The MHPAEA not only broadened the scope of the 1996 Mental Health Parity Act - for instance, by prohibiting virtually any differential in coverage between mental health benefits and medical/surgical benefits - but also applied the new parity rules to substance use disorder benefits. The recent regulations help interpret the MHPAEA's statutory provisions.  Some of the interpretations are surprising.  For instance "separate but equal" deductibles for mental health benefits and medical/surgical benefits are impermissible; the two types of benefits must be subject to a single, combined deductible.  Other provisions of the regulations are intensely mathematical.  Whether a plan sponsor is attempting to comply with the Act, or wants to establish its entitlement to a cost-based exemption, the MHPAEA may well come to be known as the "Health Care Actuaries' Full Employment Act"! The MHPAEA's provisions have already become effective for calendar-year plans.  This webinar will help sponsors and their advisors review and, if necessary, amend their plans to come into compliance.  We'll emphasize ways in which this can be done without spending more money on actuaries than will ever be saved through coverage limitations.  We'll also include a number of examples that should make the compliance options easier to understand - and to explain to the decision makers.
	Presenters:
	Kenneth A. Mason, Partner Spencer Fane Britt & Browne LLP Ken, a partner with the firm, heads the Employee Benefits Group. He concentrates on ERISA and other aspects of employee benefits law, including both tax and fiduciary issues, substantial involvement with retirement and welfare plans, executive deferred compensation, federal employment discrimination statutes, and issues unique to governmental and other tax-exempt employers. He clerked for U.S. District Judge Earl E. O'Connor before joining Spencer Fane. Ken is a Past-Chair of both the Employee Benefits Committee of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association and the Employee Benefits Institute of Kansas City. He has been on the faculty of the American Bankers Association National Retirement Trust School and is listed in The Best Lawyers in America. Ken's lecture subjects have included executive deferred compensation, 401(k) nondiscrimination testing, COBRA compliance, benefit plan aspects of the Americans with Disabilities Act, employee leave-sharing programs, and long-term care insurance.
	Julia M. Vander Weele, Partner Spencer Fane Britt & Browne LLP Julia Vander Weele, a partner with Spencer Fane, practices in the firm's Employee Benefits Group. She is also a member of the ERISA Litigation Group. Prior to joining Spencer Fane, Julia worked as in-house counsel for Fortis Benefits Insurance Company, where she managed ERISA litigation and advised senior management on other ERISA issues related to group disability, life, and dental products. She was also a Judicial Law Clerk for the 7th Judicial District of Iowa. Julia's practice focuses on ERISA and other laws governing employee benefits, including matters affecting pension, profit sharing, 401(k), cafeteria plans, and welfare plans. She has had significant experience providing employer training on HIPAA and ERISA issues, and has had substantial involvement in matters dealing with retiree health coverage and bankruptcy..