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Volume 12 Number 45
ISSN 1091-4021
Thursday, March 8, 2007

News: Mental Health

Reps. Patrick J. Kennedy (D-R.I.) and Jim Ramstad (R-Minn.) March 7 introduced legislation (H.R 1367) to require mental health benefits offered by group health plans with 50 or more enrollees to be equal to coverage for other medical conditions.

H.R. 1367, the proposed Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act, would close loopholes in the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 that mental health advocates say allows plans to charge higher copayments, coinsurance, deductibles, and maximum out-of-pocket limits and impose lower day and visit limits on mental health and addiction care.

The legislation is co-sponsored by a bipartisan majority of 256 House members, the pair said in a press release.

By an 18-3 vote, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Feb. 14 approved legislation (S. 558) requiring business with 50 or more workers to offer the same medical benefits for mental health care as they do for other medical conditions (No. 31 HCDR 2/15/07 ).

"This bill is really very simple," said Kennedy. "Millions of Americans pay their premiums every month, but when they or their children or family members get sick, their insurance isn't there for them. That's not fair and it's not smart. This is a public health crisis that in some way touches every family in America. It's time to break down the barriers to good mental health and addiction treatment."

"It's time to finish what we started in 1994 with our friend and colleague, the late Senator Paul Wellstone, and end the discrimination against people with addiction," Ramstad added. "This is not just another public policy issue. This is a life-or-death issue for millions of Americans." Former Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.) was a leading advocate of mental heath parity legislation during his Senate tenure.

Kennedy and Ramstad said nearly 90 percent of group health plans have restrictions on mental health care coverage.

Difference in House, Senate Bills

Among the differences with the Senate bill is that the House bill requires health plans offering mental health benefits to cover the same mental health and addiction disorders that are included in the health plans used by members of Congress, the release said. The Senate bill has no such provision. The bills also differ in how they affect related state laws, the release stated.

The House legislation is modeled on the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, which covers lawmakers and federal workers and dependents. The FEHBP implemented equality in mental health and addiction coverage in 2001, the release stated.

Supporters of the issue believe there is a good chance mental health parity legislation will be passed by Congress this year and signed into law by President Bush.

With a Democrat-controlled Congress, broader support among business and the managed care community, and the fact that Bush has indicated he supports mental health parity, "the ducks are aligned" in Washington, Pamela Greenberg, president and chief executive officer of the Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness, said Feb. 27 during a BNA audioconference on the issue (No. 41 HCDR 3/2/07 ).