|
Volume 13 Number 3 News: Mental Health The Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 (MHPA) will expire Dec. 31, 2008, the Congressional Research Service noted in a report made available Jan. 2 tracing past and current legislative action on the issue. The report, The Mental Health Parity Act: A Legislative History (Order Code RL33820), provides a detailed history of mental health parity legislation, including a discussion of bills introduced in each Congress and accompanying legislative action, including hearings, markups, and floor votes. According to CRS, the legislation is in response to concerns about the coverage of mental health benefits in group health plans, which often is more restricted than the coverage of physical illness. Some advocates for people with mental illness strongly support legislation that would require full parity, citing research that shows the cost-effectiveness of treating mental illnesses, the report noted. On the other hand, health plans and employers offering self-insured plans contend full parity would cause significant increases in costs, it added. Generally, the term "full parity" is used in the report to mean that the treatment limitations and financial requirements on mental health coverage are the same as those for coverage of physical illnesses. Treatment limitations include restrictions on the number of visits or days of coverage, or other limits on duration and scope of treatment, the report said. Financial requirements include deductibles, coinsurance, copayments, and other cost-sharing requirements, as well as annual and lifetime limits on coverage, it said. Background Mental health parity legislation was first introduced in 1992, and the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 (MHPA) was the first federal parity law, the report said. MHPA required partial parity by mandating only that annual and lifetime dollar limits in coverage for mental health treatment under group health plans offering mental health coverage be no less than that for physical illnesses, the report said. It also provided an exemption to employers with 50 or fewer employees. According to the report, about half of the states have passed laws requiring full parity for mental health coverage. Full parity legislation was first introduced in the 107th Congress and reintroduced in the 108th and 109th Congresses, but failed to pass, it said. Current Legislation In the first session of the 110th Congress, Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.) introduced the Mental Health Parity Act of 2007 (S. 558) on Feb. 12, 2007. Unlike previous versions of parity legislation, the bill has the support of insurance companies and employers, CRS said. The Congressional Budget Office scored S. 558 and estimated that, if enacted, the bill would increase premiums by 0.4 percent, the report said. On Sept. 18, 2007, the Senate passed S. 558 with an amendment, the report said. On March 9, 2007, Representative Patrick J. Kennedy (D-R.I.) introduced similar legislation, the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act (H.R. 1424), which was referred to three House committees. On July 18, 2007, the House Education and Labor Committee approved H.R. 1424, with an amendment (No. 138 HCDR 7/19/07 a0b4x3c4j6). The measure, as amended, was approved by the House Ways and Means Committee on Sept. 26, 2007, and by the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Oct. 16, 2007. On Aug. 2, 2007, the Senate passed the Children's Mental Health Parity Act (S. 1337). The House passed a similar bill (H.R. 3162) on Aug. 1, 2007. These bills, if enacted, would amend Title XXI of the Social Security Act to provide for equal coverage of mental health services under the State Children's Health Insurance Program. To order the CRS report for a fee, call BNA PLUS at 800-372-1033, or e-mail bnaplus@bna.com.
|
