Mental health parity law
Question:
I received this from national TSA. It is a VERY important piece of legislation! The existing law on parity in health coverage for mental illnesses expired on October 1. This issue, along with many others, had to be put aside while Congress dealt with September 11 and its aftermath. On October 10, the Senate is planning to consider S. 543, the new and more comprehensive parity legislation. Details on the bill, taken from a news bulletin put out by the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, are below. This legislation is critical for us since Tourette is coded as a mental illness by most insurers and health organizations. What we learned Friday is that while S.543 is a very good bill, there is a move to add amendments that could substantially weaken it. Most significant is one favored by Senator Gregg that would exempt companies from the bill’s requirements if it would cause more than a set increase in insurance premiums. 1% is the trigger being discussed. This would be a terrible incentive to plans or companies to make mental health coverage more expensive so they could opt out. Also it would reward companies with inefficient and costlier mental health plans. If you live in New Hampshire, please call Senator Gregg and urge him to let S.543 pass out of committee without amendments. Tell him people with Tourette need this coverage. If you live in any of the states with Senators on the Health, Education, Labor , and Pensions committee (Senators Kennedy, Dodd, Harkin, Mikulski, Bingaman, Wellstone, Murray, Reed, Edwards, Clinton, Jeffords, Gregg, Frist, Enzi, Hutchinson, Warner, Bond, Roberts, Collins, Sessions), especially if they are republicans, please call them and urge them to let S.543 out of committee without amendments. —-FROM NAMI (National Alliance for the Mentally Ill)——– S 543 Has Broad Bipartisan Senate Support The outcome of a straight up or down vote on parity is not in doubt. Currently, 64 senators (Democrats and Republicans) are cosponsors of S 543 - more than enough to overcome any filibuster or other delaying tactics. This week, four more senators added their names as cosponsors – Bill Frist (R-TN), Mary Landrieu D-LA), Richard Shelby (R-AL), and Ron Wyden (D-OR). This demonstration of broad bipartisan support for parity is a record NAMI advocates can be proud of. The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee unanimously approved S 543 on August 1, after adding provisions to ensure that health plans can implement parity in a cost effective way. A copy of the Senate HELP Committee’s report can be access on-line at: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c107:2:./temp/~c107Z0vzoN:: A strong bipartisan Senate vote in favor of full parity legislation is critically important to building support in the House and pushing the White House toward publicly endorsing the bill (President Bush signed the Texas state parity bill in 1997). Action Required NAMI advocates are strongly encouraged to contact their senators to urge quick action on S 543. While NAMI respects the need for Congress to focus first on national security and the international response to terrorism, the Senate should also move forward on the bipartisan support that exists for full parity. Thus, all senators are strongly encouraged to drop any and all procedural objections to a quick vote on full parity legislation. NAMI also opposes weakening amendments, including an expected effort to impose a cost increase exemption (i.e. an amendment that would allow health plans to exempt themselves, or to nullify the law, if insurance premiums or the number of uninsured exceed projected levels). All Senate offices can be reached by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 or by going to the policy page of the NAMI Web site at http://www.nami.org/policy.htm and click on "Write to Congress." In your contact with senators, please remind them that:
