Title: Parity Implementation Assistance Act
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Parity Implementation Assistance Act
This bill provides grants to assist states with the implementation of the federal mental health parity requirements. States receiving the grants must request and review from private health insurance plans their required comparative analysis of nonquantitative treatment limitations (NQTLs) with respect to mental health or substance use disorder benefits. (NQTLs are limitations on the scope or duration of benefits for treatment, such as preauthorization requirements.)

[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1962 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1962

  To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide grant funding to 
      States for mental health and substance use disorder parity 
                            implementation.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              June 7, 2021

Mr. Murphy (for himself and Mr. Cassidy) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide grant funding to 
      States for mental health and substance use disorder parity 
                            implementation.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Parity Implementation Assistance 
Act''.

SEC. 2. GRANTS TO SUPPORT MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER 
              PARITY IMPLEMENTATION.

    (a) In General.--Section 2794(c) of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 300gg-94(c)) (as added by section 1003 of the Patient 
Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Parity implementation.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Beginning 60 days after the date 
                of enactment of the Parity Implementation Assistance 
                Act, the Secretary shall award grants to States to 
                implement the mental health and substance use disorder 
                parity provisions of section 2726, provided that in 
                order to receive such a grant, a State is required to 
                request and review from health insurance issuers 
                offering group or individual health insurance coverage 
                the comparative analyses and other information required 
                of such health insurance issuers under subsection 
                (a)(8)(A) of such section 2726 regarding the design and 
                application of nonquantitative treatment limitations 
                imposed on mental health or substance use disorder 
                benefits.
                    ``(B) Authorization of appropriations.--For 
                purposes of awarding grants under subparagraph (A), 
                there are authorized to be appropriated $25,000,000 for 
                each of the first five fiscal years beginning after the 
                date of the enactment of this paragraph.''.
    (b) Technical Amendment.--Section 2794 of the Public Health Service 
Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg-95), as added by section 6603 of the Patient 
Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148) is redesignated 
as section 2795.
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