(1) A plan or issuer may not impose an NQTL with respect to mental health or substance use disorder in any classification unless, under the terms of the plan as written and in operation, any processes, strategies, evidentiary standards or other factors used in applying the NQTL to mental health or substance use disorder benefits in the classification are comparable to, and are applied no more stringently than, the processes, strategies, evidentiary standards, or other factors used in applying the limitation with respect to medical/surgical benefits in the same classification.

(2) All plan standards, such as in-and-out-of-network geographic limitations, limitations on inpatient services for situations where the enrollee is a threat to self or others, exclusions for court-ordered and involuntary holds, experimental treatment limitations, service coding, exclusions for services provided by clinical social workers, and network adequacy, while not specifically enumerated in the illustrative list of NQTLs must be applied in a manner that complies with this subsection.