‘‘(C) EFFECTIVE
DATE.—Any require-
ments of group health plans that are included 
in the regulations issued under subparagraph 
(A)(i), including the requirement described in 
subparagraph (A)(ii) to disclose documents, 
shall have an effective date of 1 year after the 
date of enactment of this paragraph.’’. 
SEC. 3. CONSUMER PARITY UNIT FOR MENTAL HEALTH 
AND SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER PARITY VIO-
LATIONS. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
(1) APPLICABLE STATE AUTHORITY.—The term 
‘‘applicable State authority’’ has the meaning given 
the term in section 2791 of the Public Health Serv-
ice Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg–91). 
(2) COVERED PLAN.—The term ‘‘covered plan’’ 
means any creditable coverage that is subject to any 
of the mental health parity laws. 
(3) CREDITABLE COVERAGE.—The term ‘‘cred-
itable coverage’’ has the meaning given the term in 
section 2704(c) of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 300gg–3(c)). 
(4) MENTAL HEALTH PARITY LAWS.—The term 
‘‘mental health parity laws’’ means— 
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(A) section 2726 of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg–26); 
(B) section 712 of the Employee Retire-
ment Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 
1185a); 
(C) section 9812 of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986; or 
(D) any other law that applies the require-
ments under any of the sections described in 
subparagraph (A), (B), or (C), or requirements 
that are substantially similar to those provided 
under any such section, as determined by the 
Secretary, to creditable coverage. 
(5) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 
the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 
(b) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 6 months after 
the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary, in con-
sultation with the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of the 
Treasury, and the head of any other applicable agency, 
shall establish a consumer parity unit with functions that 
include— 
(1) facilitating the centralized collection of, 
monitoring of, and response to consumer complaints 
regarding violations of mental health parity laws 
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through developing and administering, in accordance 
with subsection (d)— 
(A) a single, toll-free telephone number; 
and 
(B) a public website portal, which may in-
clude enhancing a website portal in existence on 
the date of enactment of this Act; and 
(2) providing information to health care con-
sumers regarding the disclosure requirements and 
enforcement under section 2726(a)(8) of the Public 
Health Service Act, section 712(a)(6) of the Em-
ployee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, and 
section 9812(a)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986, as added by section 2. 
(c) WEBSITE PORTAL.—The Secretary, in consulta-
tion with the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of the 
Treasury, and the head of any other applicable agency, 
shall make available on the website portal established 
under subsection (b)(1)(B)— 
(1) any guidance and any reports issued by the 
Secretary, the Secretary of Labor, or the Secretary 
of the Treasury, under section 2726 of the Public 
Health Service Act, section 712 of the Employee Re-
tirement Income Security Act of 1974, or section 
9812 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, respec-
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tively, including the amendments to such sections 
made by section 2; 
(2) de-identified information on the results of, 
or progress on, any concluded or ongoing audits or 
investigations of the Secretary, the Secretary of 
Labor, or the Secretary of the Treasury, as applica-
ble, under such section 2726, 712, or 9812, respec-
tively; and 
(3) any information on rates of or reasons for 
denial collected by the Secretary, the Secretary of 
Labor, or the Secretary of the Treasury, pursuant to 
subsection (a)(8)(B)(iii) of such section 2726, sub-
section (a)(6)(B)(iii) of such section 712, or sub-
section (a)(6)(B)(iii) of such section 9812, respec-
tively. 
(d) RESPONSE TO CONSUMER COMPLAINTS AND IN-
QUIRIES.— 
(1) TIMELY RESPONSE TO CONSUMERS.—The 
Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of 
Labor, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the head 
of any other applicable agency, shall establish rea-
sonable procedures for the consumer parity unit es-
tablished under this section to provide a timely re-
sponse (in writing if appropriate) to consumers re-
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garding complaints received by the unit against, or 
inquiries concerning, a covered plan, including— 
(A) steps that have been taken by the ap-
propriate State or Federal enforcement agency 
in response to the complaint or inquiry of the 
consumer; 
(B) any responses received by the appro-
priate State or Federal enforcement agency 
from the covered plan; 
(C) any follow-up actions or planned fol-
low-up actions by the appropriate State or Fed-
eral enforcement agency in response to the com-
plaint or inquiry of the consumer; and 
(D) contact information of the appropriate 
enforcement agency for the consumer to follow 
up on the complaint or inquiry. 
(2) TIMELY
RESPONSE
TO
REGULATORS.—A 
covered plan shall provide a timely response (in writ-
ing if appropriate) to the appropriate State or Fed-
eral enforcement agency having jurisdiction over 
such plan concerning a consumer complaint or in-
quiry submitted to the consumer parity unit estab-
lished under this section including— 
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(A) steps that have been taken by the plan 
to respond to the complaint or inquiry of the 
consumer; 
(B) any responses received by the plan 
from the consumer; and 
(C) follow-up actions or planned follow-up 
actions by the plan in response to the complaint 
or inquiry of the consumer. 
(3) PROVISION
OF
INFORMATION
TO
CON-
SUMERS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—A covered plan shall, in 
a timely manner, comply with a consumer re-
quest for information in the control or posses-
sion of such covered plan concerning the cov-
erage the consumer obtained from such covered 
plan. 
(B) EXCEPTIONS.—Notwithstanding sub-
paragraph (A), a covered plan, and any agency 
or entity having jurisdiction over a covered 
plan, may not be required by this paragraph to 
make available to the consumer any information 
required to be kept confidential by any other 
provision of law. 
(e) REPORTS.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than March 31 of 
each year, the Secretary, in consultation with the 
Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of the Treasury, 
and the head of any other applicable agency, shall 
submit a report to Congress on the complaints re-
ceived by the consumer parity unit established under 
this section in the prior year regarding covered 
plans. 
(2) CONTENTS.—Each such report shall include 
information and analysis about complaint numbers, 
complaint types, and, where applicable, information 
about the resolution of complaints. 
(3) CONSUMER
PARITY
UNIT
POSTING.—The 
Secretary shall submit such reports to the consumer 
parity unit established under this section, and such 
unit shall post the reports on the website portal es-
tablished under subsection (b)(1)(B). 
(f) DATA SHARING.—Subject to any applicable stand-
ards for Federal or State agencies with respect to pro-
tecting personally identifiable information and data secu-
rity and integrity— 
(1) the consumer parity unit established under 
this section shall share consumer complaint informa-
tion with the Secretary, and the head of any other 
applicable Federal or State agency; and 
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(2) the Secretary, and the head of any other 
applicable Federal or State agency, shall share data 
relating to consumer complaints regarding covered 
plans with such unit. 
(g) PRIVACY CONSIDERATIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out this section, 
the consumer parity unit established under this sec-
tion and the Secretary, in consultation with the Sec-
retary of Labor, the Secretary of the Treasury, and 
the head of any other applicable agency, shall take 
measures to ensure that proprietary, personal, or 
confidential consumer information that is protected 
from public disclosure under section 552(b) or 552a 
of title 5, United States Code, or any other provision 
of law, is not made public under this section. 
(2) EXCEPTIONS.—The consumer parity unit 
established under this section may not obtain from 
a covered plan any personally identifiable informa-
tion about a consumer from the records of the cov-
ered plan, except— 
(A) if the records are reasonably described 
in a request by the consumer parity unit estab-
lished under this section, and the consumer pro-
vides appropriate permission for the disclosure 
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of such information by the covered plan to such 
unit; or 
(B) as may be specifically permitted or re-
quired under other applicable provisions of law, 
including HIPAA privacy and security law as 
defined in section 3009(a) of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300jj–19(a)). 
(h) COLLABORATION.— 
(1) AGREEMENTS
WITH
OTHER
AGENCIES.— 
The Secretary, the Secretary of Labor, the Secretary 
of the Treasury, and the head of any other applica-
ble agency, shall enter into a memorandum of under-
standing with any affected Federal regulatory agen-
cy regarding procedures by which any covered plan, 
and any other agency having jurisdiction over a cov-
ered plan, shall comply with this section. 
(2) AGREEMENTS WITH STATES.—To the ex-
tent practicable, an applicable State authority may 
receive appropriate complaints from the consumer 
parity unit established under this section, if— 
(A) the applicable State authority has the 
functional capacity to receive calls or electronic 
reports routed by the unit; 
(B) the applicable State authority has sat-
isfied any conditions of participation that the 
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unit may establish, including treatment of per-
sonally identifiable information and sharing of 
information on complaint resolution or related 
compliance procedures and resources; and 
(C) participation by the applicable State 
authority includes measures necessary to pro-
tect personally identifiable information in ac-
cordance with standards that apply to Federal 
agencies with respect to protecting personally 
identifiable information and data security and 
integrity. 
Æ 
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