3/6/08 2:00 PM

House Passes Mental Health Parity Bill

By Bill Leonard

Facing strong opposition from business and employer groups, the House of Representatives on March 5, 2008, passed the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007 (H.R. 1424) by a vote of 268-148.

The bill would amend the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 to require employers to offer employees equal health care coverage for mental and physical illnesses. Under federal law, insurers and health plan sponsors can now set higher co-payments or place stricter limits on mental health benefits.

Democratic leaders in the House voiced their support for the legislation, saying the bill is needed to improve access to mental illness treatment for all Americans.

“This legislation will provide meaningful benefits by defining the scope of the benefits to be covered under a health plan. It will not pre-empt stronger state mental health parity laws,” said George Miller, D-Calif., chair of the House Education and Labor Committee.

The bill drew sharp criticism from Republican leaders in the House who claimed that the measure would raise the cost of health insurance premiums and could force many businesses to eliminate mental health benefits.

“Despite widespread bipartisan support for more-equitable coverage of mental health benefits, the bill pushed through the House today does not accomplish the goal of providing parity,” said Rep. Howard P. McKeon, R-Calif., the ranking minority member of the House Education and Labor Committee. “Instead, it creates new mandates so onerous that they could do far more harm than good, potentially squeezing employers out of the voluntary health care system altogether or eliminating the very mental health benefits we are trying to provide.”

Miller countered the opponents’ arguments by saying that evidence has shown offering mental health parity in benefits plans can decrease costs to employers by reducing and even eliminating the need for more-expensive medical care that can result if mental illnesses are left untreated.

Some employer groups, including the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), claim that H.R. 1424 is poorly crafted, would raise the costs of providing health care benefits and would force many businesses to reduce employee health care benefits. According to the employer groups, the House measure would require employers to provide coverage for all conditions listed in the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

SHRM officials say the bill would allow states to enact laws that could pre-empt federal laws and create an uneven patchwork of state requirements, which would further increase the costs and the complexity of benefits administration.

SHRM, other employer groups and insurance providers support the Senate-approved version of the mental health parity bill (S. 558). The Senate passed the measure in September 2007.

The two versions of the legislation set up an interesting scenario in the negotiations between the House and Senate to resolve the differences and hammer out a compromise proposal. One of the chief sponsors of the House bill is Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., while his father, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., is chief sponsor of the Senate bill.

Republican leaders in the Senate have stated that the House version of the bill will never gain approval in the Senate. However, Sen. Kennedy didn’t shut the door on the possibility that the bill backed by his son could pass both houses of Congress.

“I don’t accept that the House bill won’t pass the Senate,” Sen. Kennedy told reporters prior to the House vote on the bill. However, the elder Kennedy did add that the differences between the two bills are “something that we will have to work on.”

Bill Leonard is senior writer for SHRM Online.

Related Articles:

Senate Passes Mental Health Parity Act, HR News, Sept. 20, 2007

DOL Extends Mental Health Parity Rules Through 2007, HR News, March 5, 2007

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