Federal Regulators Announce Non-Enforcement of the 2024 Rule for Mental Health Parity

On May 9, 2025, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury (collectively, “the Departments”) asked the D.C. federal court to suspend litigation while they consider whether to rescind or modify the 2024 Rule implementing the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA). As part of the request, the Departments indicated that they will suspend enforcement of the 2024 Rule.

The 2024 Rule was issued to implement revisions to the MHPAEA statute that were passed as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (“CAA”) to add specific requirements for the development and enforcement of comparative analyses for non-quantitative treatment limits (“NQTLs”). The Departments’ enforcement suspension was announced as a part of a motion to hold in abeyance a legal challenge to the statutory basis for the 2024 Rule that was filed by the ERISA Industry Committee (“ERIC”) on January 17, 2025.

Specifically, the motion provides that the parties have agreed to the Departments’ request to stay the litigation while the Departments suspend enforcement of the 2024 Rule and “reconsider the 2024 Rule…including whether to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking rescinding or modifying the regulation.” The Departments specifically propose to “(1) issue a non-enforcement policy in the near future covering the portions of the 2024 Rule that are applicable for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2025 and January 1, 2026, and (2) reexamine the Departments’ current MHPAEA enforcement program more broadly.” The Departments also propose to provide quarterly status reports to the court on progress, starting on or before August 7, 2025. The motion also indicates that ERIC consented to the Department filing the motion, subject to ERIC’s “right to resume litigation at any time if necessary.

Importantly, this enforcement relief does not modify the provisions of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (CAA of 2021) that the regulations were meant to implement, nor does it cease current enforcement activities related to the MHPAEA, or invalidate previous guidance issued by the Departments related to mental health parity. Rather, it only applies to the 2024 Final Rule that implemented new regulatory requirements.