Health Care Reform

The Bazelon Center is participating actively in discussions around health care reform, with the goal of ensuring integration of mental health care in all health plans. As of late December, legislative proposals have emerged in both houses of Congress.

A fact sheet documents the need for reform (PDF).

Will Health Reform Help People with Mental Illnesses is an analysis of the two bills passed in 2009. (16-page PDF, 1/28/10)

If I Have a Psychiatric Disability Will Health Reform Help Me? explains how the two bills would improve consumers' access to needed mental health services. (7-page PDF, 1/28/10)

Legislation Overview

• The health care reform bills passed by the Senate and House await merging into a final bill.  Once approved by both houses of Congress, a bill will go to the President for signature.
  

• See a Bazelon Center chart identifying and comparing areas of the House and Senate bills of particular interest to individuals with mental illnesses.  The chart examines key differences between the House and Senate legislation to be addressed as the two bills are merged, and indicates which approach is preferred.
  
  
• Also available is a House-Senate comparison prepared by congressional staff.
  
  
• For an overview, an interactive comparison of the House and Senate bills in The New York Times (12/23/09).

Senate

• The Senate passed its bill, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590), on December 24th by a final vote of 60-39 (find out how your Senators voted). The Bazelon Center's summary of the Senate bill (updated 1/4/10) emphasizes its provisions of particular interest to people with psychiatric illnesses. The bill combines aspects of bills passed by two Senate committees with jurisdiction over health care:

-- The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee passed S. 1679, the Affordable Health Choices Act (PDF) on July 15, 2009.

-- The Senate Finance Committee approved America's Healthy Future Act, S. 1796, on October 13, 2009. See our summary of the bill's effect on mental health coverage and the committee report (PDF, 10/26/09).

• See the Congressional Budget Office score on the cost of the final Senate bill.
  
  
• Families USA has released a short report analyzing how the Senate version of health care reform will affect health coverage.  The report includes state-specific data on how many people will gain coverage, including the number newly eligible for Medicaid.  It also cites data on how many will remain uninsured if Congress does not act.
  

House

• The Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962) passed by a vote of 220-215 on November 7, 2009 (find out how your Representative voted). The link will take you to the Energy and Commerce Committee page with summaries and the text of the bill.
  

• The Bazelon Center's summary of how H.R. 3962 would affect people with mental illnesses (PDF, updated 1/4/10). Also online, for reference, a summary of how the earlier version of the bill as released from three committees would affect individuals with mental illnesses (8/13/09)
  

• The Congressional Budget Office affirms that H.R. 3962 will control costs and lower premiums.

Bazelon Center Issue Briefs on Integration of Mental Health in Healthcare

The Bazelon Center has prepared a series of issue briefs on critical areas affecting the integration of mental health services in healthcare reform. You are encouraged to download, print and disseminate these Adobe PDF files:

• Overview

• Primary Care Providers' Role in Mental Health

• Medical Homes and Integration of Mental Health

• Improving Care for People with Severe Mental Illnesses

• Integration of Mental Health in the Public Health System

• Integration of Mental Health in Quality-Assurance Policies

• The Role of Federal Programs: Medicaid, SCHIP and Medicare

• Consumer Issues in Healthcare Reform

A folder containing the full series in print is available; you can order it here.

Media Resources

• Handy Health Care Cheat Sheet by Alec MacGillis of The Washington Post (8/16/09)

• The chapter on Mental Health and Substance Abuse in Covering Health Issues, a reporters' guide published by the Alliance for Health Reform (3/23/09)