Mental Health
Parity
Nearing
the
Finish
Line
As of
this
writing
the US
Congress
is back
at work
after
their
convention
recess.
But when
there
are only
three
weeks
remaining
before
they
adjourn
for
their
planned
final
adjournment.
So
NAMI’s
national
office
and
other
advocacy
groups
such as
Mental
Health
America
are
beginning
what
everyone
hopes
will be
the
final
push to
get the
Congress
to pass
mental
health
parity
legislation
this
year.
Several
months
ago the
House
and
Senate
passed
separate
mental
health
insurance
parity
bills by
wide
bipartisan
majorities.
It then
fell to
House
and
Senate
negotiators
to work
out the
differences
between
the two
bills so
that
both
houses
could
pass the
same
bill.
Last
month
they
reached
an
agreement
and so
the bill
is ready
for a
final
vote.
Mental
health
parity
means
that if
an
insurance
program
covers
mental
health
it must
do so on
the same
terms as
any
other
illness.
As of
now many
insurance
policies
place
strict
limits
on the
number
and
duration
of
mental
health
treatment,
limits
they do
not have
for
other
types of
illness.
Many
also
require
higher
copays
for
these
mental
health
services.
The bill
now in
Congress
would
prohibit
this
unfair
discrimination.
According
to
NAMI’s
national
website,
the
major
provisions
of the
bill are
that
•
Equity
for
mental
illness
and
substance
abuse
coverage
with
respect
to
numerical
limits
on
inpatient
and
outpatient
services
– no
more
arbitrary
limits
on
inpatient
and
outpatient
coverage
that
do
not
also
apply
to
medical-surgical
coverage,
•
Equity
for
mental
illness
and
substance
abuse
coverage
with
respect
to
financial
limitations
– a
ban
on
higher
cost
sharing,
deductibles
and
out-of-pocket
limits
that
do
not
also
apply
to
medical-surgical
coverage,
and
•
A
parity
standard
in
the
federal
ERISA
law
thereby
covering
the
82
million
Americans
in
ERISA
self-insured
group
health
plans
(with
50
employees
or
more)
that
are
exempt
from
complying
with
the
42
state
parity
laws,
and
•
Stronger
parity
provisions
in
the
various
state
laws
will
be
allowed
to
continue.
There
is only
one
problem
remaining
– money!
The
House
and
Senate
must
still
reach
agreement
on how
to pay
for the
thing!
Because
parity
may end
up
costing
employers
more,
there
may be a
small
decrease
in tax
revenue
to the
federal
government.
The
Congressional
Budget
Office
estimates
that it
will be
as much
as $3.2
billion
over the
next ten
years,
so the
House
and
Senate
must
find a
way to
offset
that
lost
revenue
and make
the bill
budget
neutral.
We
need our
leaders
in
Congress
to act
now
before
they
adjourn.
So we
urge you
to
contact
your US
Representative
– for
most
NAMI BA
members,
this
will be
Melissa
Bean or
Mark
Kirk –
and urge
them to
vote yes
on this
important
legislation.
According
to
Mental
Health
America,
citizen
pressure
has
“provided
a
powerful
voice
that has
put us
in a
tremendous
position
to win
this
fight.
Your
continued
involvement
can help
make it
a
reality.”
