WASHINGTON—Until final mental health parity rules are issued, federal authorities will offer a temporary reprieve to employers that offer different levels of coverage for certain mental health outpatient services.

Because many employers use copayments for medical office visits and coinsurance for all other outpatient medical services, neither one of those types of cost-sharing would not have met the “substantially all” test that had been set in the interim final rules that were issued in January and took effect for plan years beginning on or after July 1, 2010.

As a result, many employers would likely not have been permitted to require any cost-sharing of outpatient mental health services, according to Rich Stover, principal and consulting actuary at Buck Consultants based in Secaucus, N.J.

However, the Labor Department said Thursday it will establish an enforcement safe harbor under which authorities will not take any enforcement actions against employers that divide outpatient mental health benefits into two subclassifications—office visits and all other outpatient items and services—as long as that arrangement applies to “substantially all” outpatient medical/surgical benefits as well.

However, employers may not impose any additional financial requirements or treatment limitations on mental health or substance use disorder benefits within those subclassifications beyond those that apply to “substantially all” outpatient medical/surgical benefits, Labor Department officials said. Separate subclassifications are still not permitted for generalists and specialists, the department noted.

The safe harbor, which came Thursday from the Labor Department in response to comments received on the interim final regulations for the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act that were released in January, is potentially good news for employers, Mr. Stover said.

“Many employers were probably not even aware this was a potential issue,” he said, “but it was being brought up more and more by carriers. One estimate was that 58% of large employers were affected by this provision,” which “would have required them to either provide 100% mental health benefits or change their medical design, which would have resulted in loss of grandfathering under health reform,” Mr. Stover said.

Under health reform legislation, health plans that are not substantially changed since the bill was enacted on March 23 would be “grandfathered” and not be required to meet certain provisions of the new law, such as 100% coverage of preventive services.