National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions and Florida Alliance for Healthcare Value resources can help reduce non-compliance liability
WASHINGTON – March 13, 2025 – As pressure increases for employers and other healthcare purchasers to meet their fiduciary responsibilities and ensure their employee benefit plans comply with the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA), the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions and Florida Alliance for Healthcare Value have developed a set of complimentary resources.
Released today, the toolkit includes a mental health parity compliance step-by-step guide to help purchasers understand their significant responsibilities related to the MHPAEA and the accountability required of their vendors (carriers, third-party administrators and/or managed behavioral health organizations) to comply. Among the resources are Non-Quantitative Treatment Limitations (NQTL) Multi-Step Comparative Analysis Audit Tools for purchasers to give directly to vendors to complete.
“The bottom line is that an employer’s benefit design should not be more limited for mental health and substance use disorder services than it is for physical health,” said Karen van Caulil, PhD, president and CEO of the Florida Alliance for Healthcare Value. “Unfortunately, it’s abundantly clear that this is not the case with many health plans across the United States and we see much more restrictive and narrower networks for mental health services.”
The NQTL audit tools offer comprehensive instructions and requirements for employers/healthcare purchasers and third-party advisor/service providers to conduct. It includes recommendations for appropriately documenting comparative analyses of NQTLs developed and applied to mental health/substance use disorder benefits compared to medical/surgical benefits.
“Based on feedback from our member coalitions, the National Alliance is not taking a formal position on the mental health parity rules,” said Shawn Gremminger, National Alliance president and CEO. “We are helping identify and execute strategies to help employers ensure they achieve mental health parity regardless of any federal requirements which is the impetus for development of these resources.”
The National Alliance and its member coalitions will be widely circulating the no-cost toolkit among employers and other plan sponsors to ensure compliance, reduce employer liability, and build a healthier, more productive workforce.
Funding for the development of the toolkit was provided to the Community Coalitions Health Institute, a 501c(3) nonprofit that is a National Alliance affiliate organization, and the Mental Health Treatment and Research Institute, LLC, a tax-exempt subsidy of The Bowman Family Foundation.
About the Florida Alliance for Healthcare Value
The Florida Alliance for Healthcare Value, a nonprofit research and education organization and Florida’s business coalition on health, represents over 80 public and private sector employers/healthcare purchasers with lives in Florida, across the United States, and abroad. Our organizational strategy relies on committed community partnerships to drive quality improvement while reducing the cost of health care. The Florida Alliance is a proud member of the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions. For more information, please visit flhealthvalue.org or find the organization on Facebook or LinkedIn.
About National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions
For over 30 years, the National Alliance has united business coalitions and their employer/purchaser members to achieve high-quality care that improves patient experience, health equity, and outcomes at lower costs. Its members represent private and public sector, nonprofit, and labor union organizations that provide health benefits for more than 45 million Americans and spend over $400 billion annually. To learn more, visit nationalalliancehealth.org and connect on LinkedIn.
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