# [Health Insurance] 61, Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/insurance-exam-prep-7644557/health-insurance-61-mental-health-parity-and-addiction-equity-act
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/insurance-exam-prep-7644557/health-insurance-61-mental-health-parity-and-addiction-equity-act.md
Podcast: [Insurance Exam Prep](https://stenobird.com/podcast/insurance-exam-prep-7644557)
Published: 2026-05-27T23:26:01+00:00
Episode link: https://open-exam-prep.com/
Audio file: https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/940b2835-ca2a-4e01-9936-872f01dd9f5a.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/insurance-exam-prep-7644557/episodes/health-insurance-61-mental-health-parity-and-addiction-equity-act
Duration seconds: 205

## Resource

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - MHPAEA requires parity for financial requirements and treatment limitations between mental health/substance use disorder benefits and medical/surgical benefits. - The 2026 'Meaningful Benefits Standard' mandates that plans cover core mental health and substance use disorder treatments in every classification where medical benefits are offered. - Non-Quantitative Treatment Limitations (NQTLs), like prior authorization, cannot be applied more stringently to mental health benefits than to medical benefits. - A key exam trap is misunderstanding that MHPAEA mandates parity in limitations, not that it forces plans to offer mental health benefits in the first place. - The Act generally applies to group health plans with more than 50 employees, a detail often used in scenario-based exam questions. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep

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## Transcript

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