New mandate for covering mental health and substance abuse may force employers to reduce hospital and drug benefits.

nies include Magellan Health Services, Inc.; Beacon Health Strategies, Inc.; and Value Options. Among the interim final rule dictates that Magellan has protested is its application of parity to prescription drugs. Tony Kotin, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Magellan, says that including prescription drugs as one of the six mandated classifications was completely unanticipated and goes well beyond the focus and intent of the MHPAEA. He argues that the creation of a prescription drugs classification as a subset of both medical/surgical and behavioral health benefits unnecessarily distorts the benefit plan design. He stated: