"Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008" includes
HR Issues
Congress passed a massive bill to address the current
economic downturn. The legislation, known as the
“Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008,” is
designed to stabilize the economy by freeing up capital
mired in the collapse of the U.S. housing market
markets. However, the rescue package also includes the
following provisions of importance to HR professionals.
Executive Compensation –
Provisions limiting executive compensation to ensure
that defunct financial institutions did not provide
lucrative compensation packages to their highest paid
executives were also included in the bill. Specifically,
the legislation stipulates that the top five paid
executives of a financial institution who sell assets to
the U.S. Government will have limits placed on their
compensation and bonuses, as well as prohibitions on
“golden parachutes” when they leave the company.
Mental Health Parity – After
years of wrangling over the issue of full “parity”
between mental illnesses and physical ailments in health
insurance coverage, an expansion of the 1996 Mental
Health Parity Act is finally nearing the finish line.
Congress included important mental health parity
language in the economic rescue package.
SHRM supports these provisions, which
were negotiated among the mental health community,
employers, and health plan providers.
Key provisions of the mental health
parity compromise include:
1. Parity required – Expands
the 1996 law on annual and lifetime limits to financial
requirements (co-payments, deductibles, coinsurance,
out-of-pocket expenses) and treatment limitations
(frequency, number of visits, days of coverage) for
mental health and substance abuse coverage.
2. Preemption – Maintains the
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
standard, thereby creating a federal floor for parity
standards and allowing states to enact more extensive
requirements for insured plans.
3. Out-of-Network Coverage –
Employers must offer mental health and substance abuse
coverage out-of-network if the plan offered
out-of-network coverage for medical coverage.
4.
Medical Management –
Protects plan medical management practices that are
vital to assuring the cost and quality of services for
covered benefits.
