Compensation and Benefits Provisions of the Financial Bailout Act

Mental Health Parity; Executive Compensation Limits

The financial bailout bill signed into law by President Bush on October 3, 2008, formally known as the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (the “Act”), in addition to authorizing the Treasury Department to purchase troubled assets from financial institutions, contains several provisions affecting executive compensation and employee benefits. These provisions include a requirement that health plans provide the same coverage for mental illnesses and substance abuse as for other conditions, limits on the amount of compensation that can be paid to the executives of companies that sell troubled assets to the Treasury, and a number of miscellaneous provisions.