Under federal mental health parity law, group health plans must ensure that mental health and substance use disorder benefits are:

Why A is correct

The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) requires group health plans to apply financial requirements — deductibles, copayments, coinsurance — and treatment limits to mental health and substance use disorder benefits that are no more restrictive than those applied to medical and surgical benefits. The goal is to eliminate discriminatory coverage that treated mental health as a secondary benefit. Parity requires comparable treatment, not any particular level of benefits.

Why the other options are wrong

• B) Parity laws require mental health and substance use benefits to be treated comparably, not excluded.
• C) Mental health benefits are part of the group plan's benefit package, not a separate employer-paid policy.
• D) A fixed six-session limit for all plans would violate parity because medical and surgical benefits carry no such universal cap.

Memory hook

Mental health benefits must match medical and surgical benefits in cost-sharing and limits.

Why A is correct

The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) prohibits group health plans from imposing more restrictive financial requirements — such as deductibles, copayments, and visit limits — or treatment limitations on mental health and substance use disorder benefits than those applied to medical and surgical benefits. Parity means the benefit structures must be comparable, not that every plan must offer mental health coverage in unlimited amounts. Combined with the ACA requirement that mental health and substance use disorder services be an essential health benefit, this law protects behavioral health coverage.

Why the other options are wrong

• B) Parity requires comparable benefit limits, not unlimited coverage; plans may still impose reasonable limits that match medical limits.
• C) Substance abuse treatment cannot be categorically excluded under the parity rule and the EHB requirement.
• D) Mental health benefits cannot be segregated into harsher limited policies; they must be comparable to medical benefits.

Memory hook

Parity = mental health gets the same copays, caps, and limits as a broken leg. Comparable, not carte blanche.