(1) Classification of benefits must be measured as follows:

(a) By type and level of financial requirement or treatment limitation.

(i) A financial requirement or treatment limitation type includes deductibles, copayments, coinsurance, and out-of-pocket maximums. Types of quantitative treatment limitations include annual, episode, and lifetime day and visit limits.

(ii) A financial requirement or treatment limitation level includes the amount of the financial requirement or treatment limitation type. For example, different levels of coinsurance include twenty percent and thirty percent; different levels of a copayment include fifteen dollars and twenty dollars; different levels of a deductible include two hundred fifty dollars and five hundred dollars; and different levels of an episode limit include twenty-one inpatient days per episode and thirty inpatient days per episode.

(b) A plan or issuer may not apply any financial requirement or quantitative treatment limitation to mental health/substance use disorder benefits in any classification that is more restrictive than the predominant financial requirement or quantitative treatment limitation of that type applied to substantially all medical/surgical benefits in the same classification. Whether a financial requirement or treatment limitation is a predominant financial requirement or treatment limitation that applies to substantially all medical/surgical benefits in a classification is determined separately for each type of financial requirement or treatment limitation.

(c) The determination of the portion of medical/surgical benefits in a classification of benefits subject to a financial requirement or quantitative treatment limitation (or subject to any level of a financial requirement or quantitative treatment limitation) is based on the dollar amount of all plan payments for medical/surgical benefits in the classification expected to be paid under the plan for the plan year.

(i) The dollar amount of plan payments is based on the amount the plan allows (before enrollee cost sharing) rather than the amount the plan pays (after enrollee cost sharing) because payment based on the allowed amount covers the full scope of the benefits being provided.

(ii) A reasonable actuarial method must be used to determine the dollar amount expected to be paid under a plan for medical/surgical benefits subject to a financial requirement or quantitative treatment limitation.

(d) Clarifications for certain threshold requirements when performing "substantially all" and "predominant" tests.

(i) For any deductible, the dollar amount of plan payments includes all plan payments with respect to claims that would be subject to the deductible if it had not been satisfied.

(ii) For any out-of-pocket maximum, the dollar amount of plan payments includes all plan payments associated with out-of-pocket payments that are taken into account towards the out-of-pocket maximum as well as all plan payments associated with out-of-pocket payments that would have been made towards the out-of-pocket maximum if it had not been satisfied.

(iii) Similar rules apply for any other thresholds at which the rate of plan payment changes.

(2) Application to different coverage units. If a plan or insurer applies different levels of a financial requirement or quantitative treatment limitation to different coverage units in a classification of medical/surgical benefits, the "predominant" level that applies to "substantially all" medical/surgical benefits in the classification is determined separately for each coverage unit.

(a) Determining "substantially all": A type of financial requirement or quantitative treatment limitation is considered to apply to substantially all medical/surgical benefits in a classification of benefits if it applies to at least two-thirds of all medical/surgical benefits in that classification.

(i) Benefits subject to a zero level for a type of financial requirement are treated as benefits not subject to that type of financial requirement. Benefits with no quantitative treatment limitations are treated as benefits not subject to that type of quantitative treatment limitation.

(ii) If a type of financial requirement or quantitative treatment limitation does not apply to at least two-thirds of all medical/surgical benefits in a classification, the financial requirement or quantitative treatment limitation of that type cannot be applied to mental health or substance use disorder benefits in that classification.

(b) Determining "predominant":

(i) If a type of financial requirement or quantitative treatment limitation applies to at least two-thirds of all medical/surgical benefits in a classification as determined under (a) of this subsection, the level of the financial requirement or quantitative treatment limitation that applies to more than one-half of medical/surgical benefits in that classification subject to the financial requirement or quantitative treatment limitation is the predominant level of that type in a classification of benefits.

(ii) If a type of financial requirement or quantitative treatment limitation applies to at least two-thirds of all medical/surgical benefits in a classification and there is no single level that applies to more than one-half of medical/surgical benefits in the classification subject to the financial requirement or quantitative treatment limitation, the plan or issuer must combine levels until the combination of levels applies to more than one-half of medical/surgical benefits subject to the financial requirement or quantitative treatment limitation in the classification.

(iii) The least restrictive level within the combination is considered the predominant level of that type in the classification. (For this purpose, a plan must combine the most restrictive levels first, with each less restrictive level added to the combination until the combination applies to more than one-half of the benefits subject to the financial requirement or treatment limitation.)

(3) Cumulative financial requirements and cumulative quantitative treatment limitations.

(a) A plan or issuer may not apply cumulative financial requirements (such as deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums) or cumulative quantitative treatment limitations (such as annual or lifetime day or visit limits) for mental health or substance use disorder benefits in a classification that accumulate separately from any cumulative requirement or limitation established for medical/surgical benefits in the same classification.

(b) Cumulative requirements and limitation must also satisfy the quantitative parity analysis.