The Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness (ABHW) Applauds the Administration’s Announcement of New Rulemaking on the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA)

Washington, D.C. – March 31, 2026 – The Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness (ABHW), the national voice for payers that manage behavioral health insurance benefits for 200 million people, issued the following statement in response to the Trump Administration’s announcement that they will issue a new proposed rule on the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA), including anticipated significant revisions to the provisions of the Rule, as ABHW had requested. The Administration has indicated through court documents that it intends to include this rulemaking on the 2026 Spring Regulatory Agenda, and to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking no later than December 31, 2026. 

“Our members have worked tirelessly over the past 17 years to implement parity for behavioral health services and to ensure patients are provided with the required parity benefits,” said Debbie Witchey, ABHW CEO. “It is critically important to get a rule in place that is workable and achieves the true goals of the parity laws, rather than increasing administrative burden.” 

ABHW advocates regulations that: 

• Are consistent with the MHPAEA statute and the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (CAA 21) 
• Reduce unnecessary complexity and technicality 
• Safeguard fair access to mental health and substance use disorder services 

ABHW has been at the forefront of advocating for mental health and substance use disorder parity and was instrumental in drafting the legislation for the initial MHPAEA of 2008. Since that time, the U.S. Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury (“the Departments”) have issued more than a dozen sub-regulatory guidance documents, and Congress has passed two additional laws that include parity provisions. The most recent final regulation was issued in September 2024, but the U.S. Department of Justice indicated in May 2025 that it would not enforce those regulations pending further review. These varied rules have caused much confusion among stakeholders when complying with MHPAEA. Adding to the confusion, several states have issued their own parity legislation. ABHW believes that the decision to conduct new rulemaking signals that states should suspend those initiatives. 

“For the good of patients, we urge states to refrain from advancing new state parity legislation or codifying the 2024 final rule until the federal parity landscape is resolved and a clear, stable, and workable compliance framework is established,” Witchey said. “Acting ahead of federal action will create confusion and further complicate the evolving patchwork of parity requirements.” 

ABHW reaffirms its commitment to working with the Administration and the entire behavioral health and employer community on crafting regulations that improve the parity compliance processes and ensure patients have access to the mental health and substance use disorder care they need. 

“We look forward to continued partnership with the Departments to craft new rules that do not have the inadvertent result of employers reducing or eliminating mental health and substance use disorder coverage due to increased compliance costs, and allow payers and providers to devote critical time and resources to helping patients,” Witchey said.