New Group Addresses Mental Health Parity in Employee Benefits Practice

MILWAUKEE – Reinhart Boerner Van Deuren s.c. (Reinhart) announces a new legal service area, the Mental Health Parity Group, that counsels plan sponsors, third-party administrators, pharmacy benefit managers, insurers and others on the substantial compliance requirements of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA).

Led by Employee Benefits Practice shareholders Gregory Storm and John Barlament, the integrated team consists of corporate, Taft-Hartley and governmental health and welfare plan attorneys with the specific knowledge and resources needed to provide clients with clear, actionable guidance to help meet all compliance obligations. All the attorneys on the team have significant experience in this area. For example, Storm and Barlament have been advising clients on Mental Health Parity issues for more than 15 years.

The team regularly assists clients in reviewing existing plan rules for compliance, analyzing quantitative and non-quantitative treatment limits, and creating documents and strategies to reduce risk. Since the passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act in 2021, they have prepared numerous comparative analyses for plan sponsors, coordinating with other plan service providers to provide a request-ready report. With the continual evolution of the Mental Health Parity law, increased vigilance is needed to assist plan sponsors with their compliance obligations.

The new Mental Health Parity Group works with clients to implement all changes identified during the comparative review, including service provider agreement and plan amendments and provides continuing support and assistance with ongoing updates as sponsors hire new service providers or make benefit changes.

Members of the Mental Health Parity team include Gregory Storm, John Barlament, Stacie Kalmer, Katherine Kratcha and Paul Beery.