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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 | 10 min read | 09.11.26

Mining, Indigenous Consultation Rights, and Investment Treaty Protection

This alert, the first in a two-part series, surveys the legal landscape at the intersection of two issues that increasingly shape the outcome of mining and natural resources disputes regarding the protections available to foreign investors under investment treaties, as enforced through investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS). The first is the prior consultation obligation imposed on states under the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169), adopted by the International Labour Organization (ILO 169). The second is social license, the practical acceptance of a project by surrounding communities, which is distinct from but related to the formal state consultation duty. This alert examines these issues across five foundational ISDS decisions:...