June 21, 2010

Ruling Coalition for Parity Inc., v. Sebelius et al.

On June 21, 2010, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the federal government had not erred in the way it developed interim final rules (IFR) for the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addition Equity Act of 2008 (MPHAEA). The ruling was issued in Coalition for Parity Inc. v. Sebelius et. al., which had been filed March 31, 2010, by a group of managed behavioral health care organizations seeking to force the federal government vacate the IFR and reissue the rules. The plaintiffs alleged that the federal agencies that developed the IFR--the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Department of Labor, and the Treasury--had failed to follow the Administrative Procedures Act for comment on proposed rules, thus improperly promulgating the IFR.