The Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) was enacted on October 3, 2008 as sections 511 and 512 of the Tax Extenders and Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2008 (Division C of Public Law 110-343).1
MHPAEA amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the
Public Health Service Act (PHS Act), and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (Code). In 1996,
Congress enacted the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 (MHPA 1996), which required parity in
aggregate lifetime and annual dollar limits for mental health benefits and medical/surgical
benefits. Those mental health parity provisions were codified in section 712 of ERISA, section
2705 of the PHS Act, and section 9812 of the Code, and applied to employment-related group
health plans and health insurance coverage offered in connection with a group health plan. T