Insights

Washington – August 20, 2026: The Best Lawyers in America® has recognized 57 of the firm's attorneys in its 2027 edition, a testament to the firm's deep bench of legal talent across practices and offices nationwide. In addition, 29 attorneys have been named to the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® list, recognizing outstanding attorneys earlier in their careers. 

Washington – August 15, 2024: The 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® has recognized 42 Crowell & Moring lawyers as "Best Lawyers" and 29 lawyers as “Ones to Watch.”

Washington – August 17, 2023: The 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® has recognized 47 firm lawyers as "Best Lawyers" and 41 lawyers as “Ones to Watch.”

Between 2021 and 2025, Medicaid spending on ABA therapy grew six times faster than the number of children who received services, making it one of the fastest-growing areas of Medicaid expenditure, according to CMS. On August 4, 2026, CMS released a toolkit to help state Medicaid and CHIP agencies strengthen their programs and limit fraud, waste, and abuse tied to increased demand for ABA therapy. In 2025, Medicaid spent about $10 billion on ABA and related therapy services for children with ASD — a dramatic increase from the $2 billion spent in 2021. 

The Departments of Labor (“DOL”), Health and Human Services (“HHS”), and Treasury (the “Tri-Agencies”) have signaled that changes may be coming to the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (“MHPAEA”) Final Rule issued on September 8, 2024. On May 9, 2025, the Tri-Agencies filed a Motion for Abeyance in a lawsuit brought by the ERISA Industry Committee (“ERIC”) challenging the 2024 final MHPAEA regulations in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.[1] The Motion, which was granted by the Court, indicated that the Tri-Agencies intend to “reconsider” the Final Rule, including “whether to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking rescinding or modifying the Final Rule.” Yesterday, on May 15, 2025, the Tri-Agencies issued a notice of non-enforcement stating that they “will not enforce the 2024 Final Rule or otherwise pursue enforcement actions, based on a failure to comply that occurs prior to a final decision in the litigation, plus an additional 18 months.”

On January 17, 2025, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury (the “Tri-Agencies”) released the 2024 Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (“MHPAEA”) Report to Congress (the “Report”). The Report is the third report made by the Tri-Agencies to Congress in accordance with the mandate set forth in the 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act (“CAA”). The CAA requires that, each year starting in 2021, the Tri-Agencies submit a report to Congress summarizing their activity in the prior year to collect comparative analyses from plans and issuers and any findings made with respect to noncompliance with MHPAEA.[1] Under the CAA, the Report is due by October 1 of each year. This year’s version was published on the last working day of the Biden Administration.

As part of Crowell & Moring’s ongoing effort to keep clients informed about the most significant developments stemming from the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (“MHPAEA”), please join us on November 18th at 12PM ET for the New Regulations and Enforcement Activity for MHPAEA: What You Need to Know webinar. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (“CAA”) amended MHPAEA by adding a requirement for plans and issuers to perform and document comparative analyses of non-quantitative treatment limitation (“NQTL”) comparative analyses. Since this amendment, federal regulators have issued numerous requests for documentation to national and regional group health plan sponsors and health insurance issuers, follow-up requests, and some determinations of non-compliance. In the meantime, state departments of insurance have initiated a multitude of market conduct examinations relating to parity compliance. The federal Department of Labor continues to pursue audits and inquiries examining MHPAEA compliance, particularly with respect to NQTLs. In addition to the enforcement activities by regulators, private litigants have been actively suing plans and issuers, alleging MHPAEA violations and seeking damages. Crowell & Moring has been on the vanguard, helping health insurance issuers respond to government inquiries and defend against lawsuits.