Mental Health Parity

Commercial

Under state and federal laws, benefits for behavioral health and/or substance use disorder services must be comparable to benefits for medical/surgical services. This means that copayments, coinsurance and deductibles for behavioral health and substance use disorder services must be at the same level as those for medical/surgical services. Also, Tufts Health Plan’s review and authorization of mental health and substance use disorder services must be handled in a way that is comparable to the review and authorization of medical/surgical services.

Treatment for members who are covered under any of the mental health parity laws may still need to meet medical necessity guidelines. Therefore, under parity some plans may still require authorization.