Daschle Says Mental Health Parity Legislation Will Reach Senate Floor By Memorial Day
In response to President Bush's call for Congress to approve mental health parity legislation, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) yesterday said that such legislation will reach the Senate floor "in the coming months," perhaps before Memorial Day, CongressDaily/AM reports. "We have an opportunity to pass a bill that has broad bipartisan support," Daschle said. Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) has been negotiating with Bush administration officials on a mental health parity bill (Rovner, CongressDaily/AM, 5/1). Domenici's bill (S 543), also sponsored by Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.), would build on the original 1996 mental health parity law, which prohibited health plans that cover mental illnesses from setting different annual and lifetime benefits for those illnesses than they do for physical illnesses. The law, which expired last October, was reauthorized for one year in December after the Wellstone-Domenici proposal, which was attached as an amendment to the fiscal year 2002 Labor-HHS appropriations bill, failed to pass a House-Senate conference committee. The 1996 measure does not prevent insurers from establishing higher deductibles or copayments for mental health benefits than for other medical conditions, a loophole that the new proposal seeks to eliminate. The bill, which has 64 cosponsors, would require all health plans that provide mental health benefits to offer full parity with respect to both costs and access to services. Bush on Monday did not directly address whether he favors a bill that covers all mental illnesses or only the most serious disorders -- an issue that appears likely to be the main dividing point as negotiations over parity legislation proceed (California Healthline, 4/30). Bush also "stopped short of endorsing" the Wellstone-Domenici bill (CongressDaily/AM, 5/1).
Several newspapers have responded to Bush's support of mental health parity. The following is a recap of several editorials, listed in alphabetical order:
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Denver Post: Bush "correctly said" that Congress should approve some type of mental health parity and wisely decided not to "prescrib[e] exactly how far Congress should go," thereby "stak[ing] out the important middle ground," the editorial states. The editorial says that "taking a new look" at past legislation involving health care mandates could result in a compromise that could be "tailored" to reduce the impact on health care costs and "win over the president's traditional base of support." The Post concludes, "No one will be able to define the proper balance, however, until Congress follows the president's advice, as we hope it will, and puts mental health insurance on the legislative calendar" (Denver Post, 4/30).
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Investor's Business Daily: Bush's support of mental health parity legislation may "play well with the voters," but it could cost him re-election, the editorial states. The editorial adds that while voters will note that requiring insurers to cover mental health treatment at the "same dollar amounts" as physical illnesses is "only fair." Bush and his "mostly Democrat[ic] ... allies" are "shrugging off" the fact that the "logical outgrowth" of parity is increased health costs, which can affect access to care. The editorial concludes, "If more people lose insurance due to a mental health mandate, whom will they vote for?" (Investor's Business Daily, 5/1).
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Los Angeles Times: Bush's speech on Monday correctly identified the problem of "too many Americans fall[ing] through the cracks" in the mental health system, but he is "so far ... missing his chance to contribute to the solution," the editorial states. The Times writes that Bush should "embrace" the Wellstone-Domenici bill, "if only in its basic outline," because it would "help fix the mess" in the system. The editorial concludes, "President Bush has shown that he grasps the sad reality of mental illness and its impact on families and society. Now he and Congress need to correct the disparity in how health plans treat the mentally ill" (Los Angeles Times, 5/1).
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Macon Telegraph: The editorial supports mental health parity legislation because it would mean "economic justice for the [mentally] ill" and would "weaken the stigma" surrounding behavioral disorders. It concludes, "If [Bush] can convince his own party's House leaders that fairness matters and that conservatism that's compassionate has electoral appeal, tens of millions of Americans will benefit" (Macon Telegraph, 4/29).
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Memphis Commercial Appeal: Praising Bush for supporting parity, the editorial says, "Prompt and full treatment of mental illness has been shown to reap benefits not only for the patient but also for" employers. It concludes, "The president could advance this initiative not simply by agreeing to sign" the Domenici-Wellstone bill "but by bringing key opponents in the House on board" (Memphis Commercial Appeal, 4/29).
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Minneapolis Star Tribune: Bush's endorsement of mental health parity legislation is a "terrific pledge," but mental health advocates should "make sure he sticks by his word," the editorial states. Many things could still "go awry" with the legislation, such as lawmakers "par[ing] down" the list of covered illnesses or insurers "skirt[ing]" the legislation by not covering mental illnesses at all, as it moves through Congress in the coming months, the Star Tribune notes. The editorial concludes, "[W]hy worry about such things now? Bush has become a believer. Now perhaps he'll exercise a sliver of compassionate conservatism and lead the fight against weakening the modest mental health parity bill. So voters must hope -- and insist" (Minneapolis Star Tribune, 5/1).
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New York Times: If Bush is "serious" about getting mental health parity legislation passed, he must "lean on" the legislation's rivals instead of wavering on how far such legislation should go, the editorial states. The editorial concludes, "Bush needs to follow his rhetoric with some hard bargaining to get a bill passed by Congress this year" (New York Times, 5/1).
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San Jose Mercury News: While insurers oppose parity because they say it will greatly increase health costs, a California parity law enacted in 1999 has resulted in "negligible" cost increases, the editorial says. The editorial concludes, "Endorsing mental health parity doesn't mean that insurance costs will soar ... It means that premiums will rise a few cents to provide affordable care for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression and other life altering illnesses" (San Jose Mercury News, 4/28).
- Washington Times: Calling the Domenici-Wellstone bill "atrocious," the editorial says that Bush "may be on the verge of agreeing to legislation which would strip workers of their ability to make the best health care choices for their families." The Times states that an "overwhelming majority" of workers with employer-based health coverage already have mental health and substance abuse coverage -- 91% of businesses with between 10 and 499 employees and 99% of larger businesses offer such coverage in their "most highly utilized" heath plans -- but "that isn't enough" for Wellstone and Domenici. The editorial concludes, "The bottom line is that individual families, in consultation with employers, should be making these decisions, not political commissars in Washington. Bush seems to be confusing real compassion with the nanny-statist mentality embodied" in the Wellstone-Domenici bill (Washington Times, 4/29).
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