Bill > SB205

This bill aims to codify federal requirements regarding mental health and substance use disorder parity into Maryland state law, ensuring that health insurance carriers provide comparable benefits for mental health and substance use disorders as they do for medical and surgical conditions. It defines key terms like "carrier," "core treatment," and "Parity Act" (referring to the federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008) and clarifies that "mental health benefits" and "substance use disorder benefits" do not include medical/surgical benefits. The bill mandates that carriers identify and analyze any limitations on treatment that are not based on quantity (nonquantitative treatment limitations) for mental health, substance use disorder, and medical/surgical benefits, and to collect and report data to assess the impact of these limitations on access to care. If data shows significant differences in access between mental health/substance use disorder benefits and medical/surgical benefits, carriers must explain these differences and detail actions taken to address them, with the Maryland Insurance Administration Commissioner overseeing compliance and having the authority to issue orders or impose penalties for noncompliance.