Last week, Congress passed landmark mental health parity legislation.  For 113 million people in group health plans, their mental health coverage must now be provided on par with the coverage they receive for other illnesses and medical conditions.

The bill is the product of over three years and thousands of hours of work on the part of myself and Senators Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), as well as our staff.  Work by our partners in the House of Representatives, as well as so many dedicated people from business, advocates and insurance firms, was also pivotal. 

And, of course, much credit is due to my friend, the late Senator Paul Wellstone who partnered with me to pass the 1996 Mental Health Parity Act and championed this issue so vehemently until his death in 2002.   Senator Kennedy agreed to step in after the loss of our friend and he has been remarkable in this process.

Specifically, the bill does the following:

• Provides mental health parity for about 113 million Americans who work for employers with 50 or more employees.

• Ensures that businesses that provide a mental health benefit do so in a manner that is no more restrictive than the coverage of medical and surgical benefits.

• Ensures that health plans do not place more restrictive conditions on mental health coverage than on medical and surgical coverage, including financial requirements (deductibles, copayments, and annual lifetime limits) and treatment limitations (number of covered hospital days and visits).

• Provides out-of-network parity for mental health coverage if a plan provides out-of-network coverage for medical and surgical benefits.

• Provides a small employer exemption for companies with less than 50 employees, as well as a cost-exemption for all covered employers.

I believe this bill is an unprecedented step and will help the millions of Americans and their families who are affected by the costs of treating mental illness.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 7th, 2008 at 9:45 am and is filed under Uncategorized .