Parity Rules: Worth the Wait? Delayed Release of Parity Implementation Rules Keeps Everyone Guessing

When the Wellstone-Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act passed in 2008, the behavioral health industry celebrated an important, but short-lived legislative victory, followed by a year of wrangling and months of delay as regulators detailed the rules needed to implement the Act in the field. As the Act's interim final rules hit the street in January, the parity battle is beginning anew, albeit in its final phase. "What is becoming clear to most of us is that we have to be in this for the long haul," says Ron Hunsicker, CEO and president of the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP). "What we have now is a piece of civil rights legislation that can hopefully be used as the basis for other legislation moving forward."