Support Needed for Mental Health Parity Bill

Legislation in Senate Would Provide Full Parity for All Mental Disorders

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June 12, 2001—Senators Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Paul Wellstone (D-MN), have introduced new legislation to eliminate health-insurance companies' discrimination between mental health and medical/surgical care. Notably, The Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2001 (S. 543), introduced in March, would level the health-coverage playing field by prohibiting companies' practice of providing unequal benefits and financial requirements.

The legislation builds on the existing 1996 Parity Act (P.L. 104-204 ), which bans different lifetime and annual spending caps for mental and general health care. It would extend full parity to all individuals with a condition listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition (DSM-IV). Specifically, S. 543 would prohibit health insurance plans from imposing inpatient hospital day and outpatient visit limits and from applying different deductibles, co-payments, out-of-network charges and other financial requirements for mental health treatment.

Among other key provisions, the bill would amend the 1996 Parity Act to:

• eliminate the sunset provision, under which the 1996 parity law would terminate on September 30, 2001;
• increase the scope of its coverage so as to include small businesses with 25 or more employees (the 1996 Act applied only to businesses with 50 or more employees); and
• eliminate the exemption from the 1996 law currently permitted for employers who show that their health insurance premiums rose more than one percent as a result of complying with the Parity Act.

Although the bill does put health insurers on notice that mental health care should not be treated differently than general health care, S. 543 would only apply to plans that already provide mental health benefits; it would not require plans to offer such benefits.

Bipartisan List of Sponsors

As of this date, 30 Senators have joined Senators Domenici and Wellstone as co-sponsors of S. 543, including:

Action Needed Now

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions will schedule a hearing on the bill soon, given the September 30, 2001 sunset date of the 1996 Parity Act. Action is therefore needed now to increase Senate support and ensure passage of this legislation.

What You Can Do

Call or write your two Senators and urge them to co-sponsor and support S. 543, The Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2001. If either or both are already on the above list of co-sponsors, thank them and ask them to contact their Senate colleagues in support of the bill.

To stress the need for this legislation, remind your representative that:

• More than 50 million American adults, nearly 25% of the adult population, suffer from mental disorders or substance abuse disorders each year, including 18 million affected by depression alone.
• The National Institute of Mental Health has shown that success rates of treatment for disorders such as schizophrenia (60%), depression (70-80%) and panic disorder (70-90%) surpass those of other medical conditions (heart disease, for example, has a treatment success rate of 45-50%).
• Providing equal coverage makes good economic sense; when mental illness goes untreated, costs begin to escalate. The NIMH estimates that the annual cost of untreated mental illness exceeds $300 billion, primarily due to productivity losses (missed work days and premature death) of $150 billion, health care costs of $70 billion, and societal costs (increased use of the criminal justice system and social welfare costs) of $80 billion.
• By eliminating the unequal treatment of mental health conditions, S. 543 will help reduce the unmet needs for treatment of people with mental disorders-many of whom delay seeking treatment because of high out-of-pocket costs.
• S. 543 has received strong support from all of the 50-some national mental health advocacy organizations participating in the Mental Health Liaison Group coalition and has broad support from more than 30 other interested national organizations.

Phone or Write

You can phone your Senators by calling the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121.

• Write or fax a letter to: The Honorable (first and last name), United States Senate, Washington DC 20510
• Email is rarely read. If you must email, it's critical to begin the message with your name, address and zip code to show that the message is from a constituent. You can look up your Senator and find email forms at http://www.congress.org.