1. Home
  2. |Insights
  3. |House and Senate Pass Mental Health Parity Extension

House and Senate Pass Mental Health Parity Extension

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 12.22.03

The House and Senate have each passed bills that would extend the applicability of the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 ("MHPA") an additional year. The Senate version, S. 1929, passed by unanimous consent. MHPA, the provisions of which appear in Section 702 of ERISA, was scheduled to expire as of December 31, 2003. MHPA requires group health plans to provide annual and lifetime limits on mental health benefits that are identical to those provided by the plan for major medical benefits. Small employers-generally those with 50 or fewer employees-are exempt from MHPA's requirements.

Insights

Client Alert | 3 min read | 09.13.24

SEC Disbands its Climate and ESG Enforcement Task Force

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reportedly recently dissolved its Climate and ESG Enforcement Task Force (the Task Force). The Task Force was part of SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s broader push to increase investors’ access to environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) information about public companies and registered investment companies. The dissolution of the Climate and ESG Enforcement Task Force comes after three years marked by industry resistance and a mixed record in the courts. Prior to the Task Force’s dissolution, the agency removed ESG from its annual Examination Priorities Report, which provides areas of particular focus during SEC examinations. While the Task Force has been dissolved, the SEC is still pursuing a number of its proposed ESG and climate-related rules....