Workers’ Disability Benefits Parity Act of 2025

The Workers’ Disability Benefits Parity Act of 2025 aims to ensure that disability benefits under ERISA-regulated plans treat mental health conditions and substance use disorders on par with physical health conditions. The bill adds a new Part 9 to ERISA, defining terms such as disability benefit, disability benefit plan, mental health condition, and substance use disorder, and then prohibits plan limitations that are more restrictive for mental health or substance use disabilities than for physical disabilities. It also requires that physical disabilities caused by mental health or substance use be considered part of the same disability. The act creates enforcement mechanisms, including civil penalties, and extends parity requirements to governmental plans and issuers, with state and federal enforcement options. It directs the Secretary of Labor to study costs and educate plan sponsors and provides for regulatory implementation and funding, with an effective date 18 months after enactment (plus a special rule for collective bargaining agreements). In short, the bill seeks to remove advantages in benefit limits for mental health and substance use-related disabilities, promote equal access to long-term disability benefits, and establish a framework for oversight, enforcement, and implementation.