ACA, Others Pushing for Mental Health and Addictive Disorder Parity This Year
Only a few legislative days are left in the current session of Congress, and ACA and other mental health advocacy organizations are working to push mental health and addictive disorder parity legislation over the goal line. A very strong parity bill -H.R. 1424, the “Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act” – has been approved by the House committees to which it was referred. A somewhat weaker Senate bill, S. 558, was passed by that chamber in September.
Though the bills are similar, a handful of key differences are proving difficult to resolve. Arguably the most important difference is that the House bill requires plans to cover treatments for the full range of disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), the same coverage enjoyed by members of Congress and other federal employees. The Senate bill would allow health plans to exclude coverage for certain disorders. Both the House and Senate bills allow health plans to continue using standard managed care practices in administering services.
Counselors are encouraged to contact both their Representative and their Senators to ask them to pass a strong mental health and addictive disorder parity bill before the year ends. Health plans should no longer be allowed to discriminate by diagnosis in covering mental health care. For more information, contact Scott Barstow with ACA at sbarstow@counseling.org or by phone at 800/347-6647, Ext. 234.