117th CONGRESS 1st Session |
To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to strengthen parity in mental health and substance use disorder benefits, and for other purposes.
February 25, 2021
Mr. Norcross (for himself, Mr. Courtney, Mr. Fitzpatrick, and Ms. Kuster) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor
To amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 to strengthen parity in mental health and substance use disorder benefits, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
This Act may be cited as the “Parity Enforcement Act of 2021”.
SEC. 2. Authorizing enforcement authority for mental health and substance use disorder benefits.
(a) In general.—Section 502(c)(10)(A) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1132(c)(10)(A)) is amended by striking “for any failure” and all that follows through “in connection with the plan” and inserting“for any failure by such sponsor or issuer, in connection with the plan—
“(i) to meet the requirements of subsection (a)(1)(F), (b)(3), (c), or (d) of section 702 or section 701 or 702(b)(1) with respect to genetic information; or
“(ii) to meet the requirements of subsection (a) of section 712 with respect to parity in mental health and substance use disorder benefits.”.
(b) Technical and conforming amendments.—Section 502 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1132) is amended—
(1) in subsection (a)(6), by striking “or (9)” and inserting “(9), or (10)”;
(A) by striking “subsections (c)(9) and (a)(6)” and inserting “subsections (c)(9), (c)(10), and (a)(6)”;
(B) by striking “under subsection (c)(9)” and inserting “under subsections (c)(9) and (c)(10)”; and
(C) by striking “706(a)(1)” and inserting “733(a)(1)”; and
(3) in subsection (c)(10) in the heading, by striking “use of genetic information” and inserting “use of genetic information and parity in mental health and substance use disorder benefits”.
(c) Effective date.—The amendments made by subsection (a) shall apply with respect to group health plans for plan years beginning after the date that is 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act.