Progress in Mental Health Parity
September 28th, 2008 |
A GoodTherapy.org News Update Presented by Daniel Brezenoff, LCSW
On Tuesday, the United States House of Representatives and Senate passed legislation to ensure parity between mental health coverage and other medical care. The law would apply to group health plans with 51 or more employees. Differences in the bills’ language must be worked out before it goes to President Bush, who is expected to sign it.
The legislation does not mandate that group health plans cover mental health or addiction treatment, only that when plans do so, the coverage must be equitable to other medical coverage.
Jim Ramstad, R-Minn., helped lead efforts to pass the bill in the House, and spoke inspiringly of his own experience as a person in recovery, ”I am alive and sober today only because of the access that I had to treatment following my last alcoholic blackout on July 31, 1981. I woke up that day in a jail cell in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and I am living proof that treatment works and recovery is possible. But far too many people in our country don’t have the same access to treatment that I and other members of Congress, other federal employees have.”
Because private companies will be able to deduct more health expenses from federal income taxes, the projected cost to the government is about $3.4 billion over 10 years. There is also a loophole in the bill that may concern mental health advocates: the legislation allows employers to determine what types of care are covered. Since the bill only requires that mental health coverage, when offered, is equal to other coverage, but not that mental health coverage is in fact offered, plans and employers could opt not to provide mental health treatment at all.
But Andrew Sperling, director of legislative advocacy for the National Alliance on Mental Illness, does not seem worried about that. ”We’ve made advances in scientific discovery and treatment,” Sperling told the New York Times, “so the excuse of less certainty about treatment and outcomes, I think we’ve gotten past that.”
And James Klein, president of the American Benefits Council, said, “Most of our members believe that this legislation strikes a very valuable balance.”
Time will tell.
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6 comments so far
great way of saying “I look like the good guy but u dont get a pie out of me”. Mental health care should be given as much importance as physical. In fact, more as a person recovers with a course of treatment when physical well being is in question. Pyschiatric treatment is like a ripple on water and sometimes takes years before the person can lead a normal life.
Some progress does not mean that it is enough. There is still so much work to be done. We have to start insisting that this is an important issue that deserves just as much attention as we can give to it. Those who are suffering with mental health issues and their families deserve at least that much.
Did I hear correctly that the new Bailout bill has been attached to this mental health bill? Has anyone else heard this?
Listen up people- this is still not enough! This bill still continues to treat mental health issues like the red haired step child of the medical field. There is no sense in this! The mental health problems that millions in this country face are real and deserve the best treatment that is available! It is time that we as Americans stand up and fight for what we deserve, and that is caring and understanding for all of our fellow citizens in need. Call your representatives and let them know tht we still need more and keep up the good fight!
While I agree with you runnin fast there are millions of others who do not. There are still communities where you do not talk about mental health issues- they are taboo in a sense. And you certainly would not seek treatment for such things! That would be airing your dirty laundry to strangers. I do not know what it is going to take to get over this great divide in the health care industry. I honestly think that it is going to take several more years of fighting and struggling to get the kind of coverage for treatmant that people with these issues need and deserve. Everything in the entire industry is just so out of whack right now, and the American people have gone right along with the plan and therefore have created an endless cycle of want and greed. I am not pointing the finger of blame at anyone but there has to come a time when we all determine that enough is enough and we are not going to let the decisions of a few adversely affect our lives and overall well being.
Mental health equality is never gonna happen because there are still too many who think that these issues are things that can be easily controlled.