April 2008
Mental Health Parity
Dear Friend,
The House has recently passed the Paul
Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act. The
bill, named in memory of the late Senator Paul Wellstone
of Minnesota, seeks to remove some of the stigma around
mental health conditions and open greater access to
services.
Basically, mental health services are
less accessible, even with high quality health
insurance. Many private health plans that cover mental
health services have higher cost-sharing - co-payments
or deductibles - for mental health treatments than for
physical health procedures. They tend to have more
restrictions on these services, limiting the number of
visits or the duration of treatment. They also exclude
addiction therapy, which is something that can be
treated effectively as a medical condition.
The mental health parity bill would
eliminate these barriers to mental health and addiction
treatment services if a plan offers mental health
benefits. It also uses the mental health disorders
published in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV
(DSM-IV), which is the definitive source on mental
health conditions, as the basis for determining which
mental health and addiction treatments to cover. DSM-IV
is used as the basis for coverage by the Department of
Veterans Affairs (VA), Medicare, and Medicaid.
Furthermore, the actual cost increase to premiums, as
reported by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is not
more than 0.2% per year. The net effect of expanding
access to these services will be to improve and save
lives.
Now the bill must be reconciled with
the Senate's version of this legislation. That bill is
more limited in what it covers, and does not set DSM-IV
as its basis of mental health conditions. It also does
not include addiction therapy. However, I am still
hopeful that an agreement will spring forth, and
regardless of what happens we will make great strides in
ensuring access to these treatments.
As one of the leaders in the House on
this issue, Representative Jim Ramstad of Minnesota
stated, "the issue before us is not just another public
policy issue, it's a matter of life or death for 54
million Americans suffering the ravages of mental health
disorders and for 22 million Americans suffering from
chemical addiction." It is our moral responsibility, our
duty, to ensure these people can receive care.
Aloha,
Neil Abercrombie
Member of Congress
