The federal Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 prohibits certain health insurers from imposing terms on benefits for mental health or substance use disorder that are less favorable than the terms imposed on medical and surgical benefits. (42 U.S.C. § 300gg-26) Existing state law requires certain health insurers to: (1) comply with the Act; and (2) provide to the Commissioner of Insurance certain data necessary to evaluate compliance with the Act. (NRS 687B.404) Section 7 of this bill requires the Commissioner to apply for gifts, grants and donations to support a study of the degree to which public and private insurance plans in this State achieve parity between coverage for behavioral health care and coverage for other medical care. To the extent that the Commissioner obtains sufficient money, section 7 requires the Commissioner to enter into a contract with a qualified person or entity to conduct the study. Section 8 of this bill requires public and private health insurers in this State and certain other persons or entities to submit data to the Commissioner or the contractor as necessary to conduct the study. Section 9 of this bill authorizes the Commissioner to issue a subpoena for the production of such data if a person or entity fails to comply with section 8. Sections 8 and 11 of this bill provide for the confidentiality of any personally identifiable information, proprietary financial information, trade secret or other confidential information that is submitted to the Commissioner pursuant to section 8. Section 10 of this bill requires: (1) the Commissioner to submit an annual report to the Legislature concerning the progress of the efforts to fund and conduct the study; and (2) the contractor who conducts the study to report the results to the Commissioner, the Governor and the Legislature upon completion of the study. Sections 3-6 of this bill define certain terms used in sections 3-10. Section 2 of this bill establishes the applicability of those definitions.

Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 239.010
BDR: 239.010