Sponsors (2)
Introduced June 5, 2025 by Mark James Desaulnier · Last progress June 5, 2025
The bill strengthens parity and enforcement so people with behavioral‑health disabilities get disability benefits comparable to physical disabilities, but it increases regulatory and compliance costs for employers, insurers, and government that may be passed to workers or provoke litigation.
People with mental health or substance use disorders (and other behavioral-health disabilities) would gain access to long‑term disability benefits equal to those for comparable physical disabilities, reducing discriminatory duration limits and improving financial security.
Participants and beneficiaries would have stronger enforcement tools and remedies — including civil penalties, equitable relief, and clearer Secretary of Labor authority — creating incentives for plan compliance and faster correction of parity violations, with a federal backstop where States do not enforce.
The bill funds studies, outreach, actuarial analysis, and rulemaking (authorized $10M/year for 5 years) so plan sponsors and regulators get better evidence and guidance to design and implement fairer behavioral‑health disability coverage.
Employers, insurers, and plan sponsors could face higher compliance and benefit costs that are likely to be passed on to workers through higher premiums or reduced wages, affecting household finances for many Americans.
Civil monetary penalties calculated on a per‑participant, per‑day basis could produce very large fines for prolonged violations and drive increased litigation and administrative expense for employers and administrators.
Expanded federal rulemaking and enforcement into areas traditionally regulated by States may impose new compliance burdens, reduce state flexibility, and shift administrative costs across government and private plans.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Requires disability plans to treat mental‑health and substance‑use disabilities the same as physical disabilities and creates enforcement and penalties for noncompliance.
Requires disability benefit plans—private ERISA plans, government employee plans, and state‑regulated disability insurance—to treat disabilities caused by mental health conditions and substance use disorders the same as purely physical disabilities. It bans shorter duration limits, extra exclusions, or other more restrictive rules for behavioral‑health disabilities, creates civil penalties and expanded enforcement by the Department of Labor, preserves individual court remedies, and funds a five‑year DOL study and plan‑sponsor education effort. Sets a uniform federal enforcement backstop if states fail to substantially enforce the rule, authorizes regulatory implementation, and phases the rule in for plan years beginning 18 months after enactment (with a delayed start for existing collective bargaining agreements until their expiration or 18 months).