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July 2010 Dear Business Partner: I am writing to advise you of today's significant update regarding Federal Mental Health Parity (FMHP). Today, July 1, 2010, the Department of Labor issued a significant update to the Federal Mental Health Parity Interim Final Rule (the Rule) in the form of an FAQ. This very important issuance, which Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts strongly advocated for, redefines the testing approach for determining whether a plan satisfies parity requirements. The new definition of "outpatient services" recognizes two distinct categories of outpatient services, causing office visits to be separated from all other outpatient medical services. As a result of this new definition, all prior testing of both our standard and custom plans needs to be reconsidered. Yesterday, we mailed letters to our fully insured and ASC accounts renewing 7/1/2010—9/20/2010, about the Interim Final Rule and our approach to addressing the Rule prior to the July 1, 2010 issuance:
We are taking immediate action to assess the situation and update all prior communications, benefit changes, rate changes, and testing results. In the meantime, we ask that you continue to visit our broker website for up to the minute information regarding our course of action. If you have any questions, please contact your account executive. Sincerely, Tim O'Brien
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Federal Mental Health Parity ASC Account Letter
http://www.bluecrossma.com/eemail/broker-enews/fmhp-asc.pdf
Federal Mental Health Parity Fully Insured Account Letter
http://www.bluecrossma.com/eemail/broker-enews/fmhp-fully-insured.pdf
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Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. |