Pause Announced on Enforcement of 2024 Mental Health Parity Act Rules

Legal Alert

May 16, 2025

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On May 15, 2025, the U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (collectively, the Departments) announced that the Departments would stay enforcement of the final Mental Health Parity Act rules issued under the Biden Administration in September 2024 (the 2024 Final Rule). Specifically, the Departments:

are reconsidering the new requirements imposed on group health plans under the 2024 Final Rule, including whether the 2024 Final Rule should be rescinded or amended. More information about the 2024 Final Rule is available here.
announced that they have asked the court to pause a lawsuit challenging the 2024 Final Rule while they reconsider the 2024 Final Rule.
will not pursue enforcement actions for failures to comply with the 2024 Final Rule that occur up to 18 months after a final decision is issued in the paused litigation.

As of now, it is unclear whether the 2024 Final Rule will remain final after all. In the meantime, group health plans must still comply with the Mental Health Parity Act rules in place before the 2024 Final Rule was issued.

Background

In January 2025, the ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) filed suit to invalidate the 2024 Final Rule’s robust new requirements on group health plans related to nonquantitative treatment limitations (NQTLs) under the Mental Health Parity Act. ERIC asserted that the 2024 Final Rule imposes entirely new, ambiguous requirements that are so burdensome and unworkable that they will discourage employers from offering mental health and substance use disorder benefits at all.

Specifically, the new requirements from the 2024 Final Rule under attack are:

the “meaningful benefits” requirement;
the “material difference in access” standard;
the detailed content requirements for the plan’s written NQTL comparative analysis; and
the requirement for plan fiduciaries to certify in writing that they engaged in a prudent process to hire qualified service providers to perform and document the plan’s NQTL comparative analysis.

Each of these requirements is described in more detail in our prior Client Alert on the 2024 Final Rule.

Decision to Pause and Reconsider

Rather than continue the legal battle, the Departments requested that the court pause the litigation while they reconsider the new requirements of the 2024 Final Rule in light of the Trump Administration’s goals to limit regulations that impose undue burdens or significant costs on private business.

Notably, the Departments have stated that their reconsideration may include initiating a new rulemaking process to revise or rescind 2024 Final Rule altogether.

Recommendations

Group health plan sponsors should remember that the Departments’ pause on enforcement only relates to the 2024 Final Rule. The Mental Health Parity Act rules on NQTLs have not disappeared altogether, nor has the requirement to perform and document a comparative analysis that shows that the plan’s NQTLs are compliant. See our Client Alert from 2021 for more information. The Departments are actively auditing plans and plan service providers with respect to these requirements. Notably, plan participants can also request a copy of the plan’s NQTL comparative analysis at any point, starting the clock on ERISA’s 30-day disclosure deadline to provide plan documents.

Accordingly, group health plan sponsors should continue to comply with Mental Health Parity Act’s statutory requirements, as amended by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, and the 2013 Final Rules.

If you have any questions about the Mental Health Parity Act, please contact your SGR benefits counsel.