Better Mental Health Care for Americans Act, Sec. 201

• Authority: United States Congress
• Parent authority: Federal government
• Jurisdiction: United States
• Collections: U.S. federal laws
• Most recent activity: Defunct
• Most recent activity date: 2025-01-03

Risk subdomain coverage

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the risk subdomain are described.

• Lack of transparency or interpretability

All other risk subdomains had no coverage in this document.

Risk Coverage Summary

This document has minimal coverage of AI risk domains. It primarily addresses healthcare policy and insurance regulation with only one explicit mention of AI-related technology in the context of medical necessity determinations (subdomain 7.4). The document does not substantively address AI risks, harms, or safety concerns.

Sector coverage

Good coverage — Comprehensive governance measures or mitigations with clear procedures relating to the sector are explicitly described.

• Health Care & Social Assistance

Minimal coverage — Brief mention but no specific mitigations, recommendations or governance measures relating to the sector are described.

• Finance & Insurance
• Public Administration (excl. National Security)

All other sectors had no coverage in this document.

Sectors Summary

This document primarily governs the Health Care and Social Assistance sector, specifically Medicare Advantage organizations and prescription drug plan sponsors. It also has implications for the Finance and Insurance sector as these organizations provide health insurance products.

Legislative Status

Hard Law

Legislative Status Summary

This is a binding federal statute enacted by the United States Congress that amends the Social Security Act. It contains mandatory obligations with enforcement mechanisms including civil monetary penalties for non-compliance.

Actors

Proposer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: United States Congress
• Summary: The document is a Congressional statute (Section 201 of the Better Mental Health Care for Americans Act) enacted by the United States Congress, which has constitutional authority to legislate on matters affecting Medicare and federal healthcare programs.

Target

• Entity Types: AI_Deployer
• Entities: MA organizations (Medicare Advantage organizations); PDP sponsors (Prescription Drug Plan sponsors)
• Summary: The statute explicitly targets MA organizations offering Medicare Advantage plans and PDP sponsors offering prescription drug plans, requiring them to ensure parity in mental health benefits and comply with NQTL analysis requirements including disclosure of AI technology use.

Enforcer

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Secretary of Health and Human Services; Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
• Summary: The Secretary of Health and Human Services is designated as the primary enforcement authority with power to request analyses, issue regulations, impose penalties for non-compliance, and report to Congress on compliance status.

Monitor

• Entity Types: AI_Governance_Actor
• Entities: Secretary of Health and Human Services; United States Congress
• Summary: The Secretary is required to monitor compliance through mandatory analysis requests (minimum 20 per year) and biennial reporting to Congress. Congress receives reports and maintains oversight through the legislative process.

AI Lifecycle Stages

Lifecycle stages covered by the documents, as defined in the OECD Framework for the Classification of AI Systems

• Operate and Monitor

AI Lifecycle Summary

The document does not comprehensively address AI lifecycle stages. It mentions AI and related technologies only in the context of medical necessity determinations and NQTL analyses, requiring disclosure of their use but not governing their development, deployment, or monitoring as AI systems.

Technical Scope

Terms relating to technical scope that are mentioned or implicitly referenced in the document

No technical scope terms identified.

Technical Scope Summary

The document mentions AI technology, machine learning, and clinical decision-making technology only as examples of tools that may be used in medical necessity determinations. It does not define these terms, distinguish between AI models and systems, or specify any technical characteristics, compute thresholds, or model types.