FW: News from ADA-OHIO Congress extends mental health parity law again

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News from ADA-OHIO Congress extends mental health

parity law again

The following article is forwarded to you by the Great Lakes ADA

Accessible IT Center and by ADA-OHIO (The Americans with Disabilities

Act).

Society of Human Resource Managers (SHRM On-Line)

Congress extends mental health parity law again

By Steve Bates

For the second year in a row, Congress has approved a one-year

extension of the 1996 mental health parity law instead of permanent

legislation that would be more far-reaching and would increase costs to

many employers.

On a Dec. 8 voice vote, the House of Representatives passed the

extension by unanimous consent. The measure, the Mental Health Parity

Reauthorization Act, S. 1929, was cleared by the Senate on Nov. 21.

President Bush is expected to sign the extension.

The 1996 law requires that group health insurance plans provide

the same annual and lifetime dollar limits for mental health benefits as

they do for other medical and surgical benefits. The law was first

scheduled to expire in December 2002 but was extended through December

2003. The latest congressional action would keep the measure effective

for another 12 months.

Efforts to enact stronger, permanent standards for mental health

coverage failed to advance in either chamber of Congress this year. H.R.

953 and S. 486, identical bills named the Senator Wellstone Mental

Health Equitable

Treatment Act, stalled in committees. The bills are named for

the Minnesota Democrat who was a leading proponent of the initiative and

who died in an October 2002 plane crash.

Backers say the tougher law is needed to eliminate loopholes in

the existing law. The Wellstone proposal would bar health plans from

requiring higher co-payments, deductibles or co-insurance payments for

mental health services.

It would not mandate coverage of mental health services, but it

would require that they have the same benefit limits as other medical

services if they are offered. It also would exempt employers with 50 or

fewer employees, as well as

group plans for which compliance would increase premiums by 1

percent or more.

The legislation has supporters in both political parties and has

been endorsed by more than 200 organizations.

But some legislators and organizations, including the Society

for Human Resource Management (SHRM), say it would impose too strict a

mandate and too high a cost on employers.

The Congressional Budget Office has predicted that enactment of

the legislation would increase insurance premiums by less than 1

percent. However, SHRM and groups such as the Washington, D.C.-based

Health Benefits Coalition have said that even a premium increase of a

fraction of a percent could be significant for many small employers who

already are dealing with double-digit

increases in health care expenses this year. SHRM favors

comprehensive health care legislation over piecemeal mandates.

President Bush has spoken in favor of mental health parity on

occasion, but it is not clear whether he would favor a measure as tough

as the Wellstone proposal.

Most states already have laws addressing the subject. Some

mandate parity for mental illness with other health benefits, some

require employers to provide some coverage for mental illness, and some

require that mental health coverage be available as an option.

The latest extension of the 1996 federal law was sponsored by

Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H.

Rep. Boehner, R-Ohio, chairman of the Education and the

Workforce Committee, described the extension as " an important step to

ensure that patients continue to have access to the care they need. "

Added Boehner, " any

changes to expand the mental health parity law must be made in a

balanced manner that doesn't jeopardize workers' existing health care

benefits or discourage employers from voluntarily providing quality

benefits to their employees.

Rep. Sam , R-Texas, agreed. " Over the past seven years,

the parity law has struck a good balance, providing important mental

health benefits without placing unworkable mandates on employers. "

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