March 21, 2001 

Mental Health Parity Bill, S. 543
MAJOR ADVOCACY EFFORT NEEDED TO WIN ENACTMENT 

Strong bipartisan support for Senate bill: 

To follow up on our Capitol Hill Update of March 15, Senators Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Paul Wellstone (D-MN), joined by six Republican and five Democratic Senators have introduced the Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2001, S. 543. Joining Domenici and Wellstone as original co-sponsors of S. 543 were Senators Arlen Specter (R-PA), Harry Reid (D-NV), Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), Thad Cochran (R-MS), Jack Reed (D-RI), John Warner (R-VA), Christopher Dodd (D-CT), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Charles Grassley (R-IA), and Tim Johnson (D-SD). NMHA and MHA advocacy helped shape this legislation, which calls for full parity for ALL mental disorders. 

The new bill

S. 543, the Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2001, provides full parity for all categories of mental health conditions listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). The bill would prohibit group health plans which provide mental health benefits from imposing treatment limitations or financial requirements on the coverage of mental health conditions unless comparable limits are imposed on medical and surgical benefits. Specifically, S. 543 would prohibit discriminatory limits on the frequency of treatment, number of visits, days of coverage, or other limits on the duration or scope of treatment in private health insurance coverage for all mental disorders. It would also rule out higher copayments, deductibles, coinsurance, other cost sharing, and limits on the total amount payable for mental health care in private coverage for all such conditions. In closing these loopholes in the 1996 federal parity law, the bill draws no distinction among diagnoses. 

The bill would also eliminate provisions which now: 

• Exempt insurance companies and other firms that have experienced an increase of more than 1 percent in their mental health costs; 
• Call for Federal mental health parity requirements to expire after September 30, 2001. 

Finally, the bill would shrink the current (50 or fewer employees) small business exemption to an exemption of companies with 25 or fewer employees. It is estimated that this legislation would extend parity coverage to 100 million people. 

House bill also provides full parity

Mirroring the strong “liftoff” of the Senate parity bill, a very broad parity bill in the House of Representatives is also picking up support. The House bill, H.R. 162, the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Parity Amendments of 2001, introduced by Rep. Marge Roukema (R-NJ), would eliminate ALL discriminatory practices against ALL people with mental disorders (including substance abuse) in virtually ALL private health insurance policies in the United States. (S. 543, in contrast, does not require parity for substance abuse disorders.) H.R. 162, the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Parity Amendments of 2001, had 27 co-sponsors when it was introduced and has continued to pick up supporters. 

NMHA’s position

NMHA strongly supports both S. 543 and H.R. 162. It is very exciting that both the House and Senate are considering major legislation that would provide full mental health parity. Because both bills will face strong opposition from within the insurance industry as well as some in the business community, intensive advocacy will be needed to move mental health parity legislation toward enactment. Therefore, it is crucial that both bills gather as many co-sponsors as possible; the greater the level of such support, the greater the chances of final passage. Given the current political climate, it is unfortunately unlikely that Congress will pass parity legislation this year that covers both mental health and substance abuse services (as it does in H.R. 162); however, the success of a full mental health parity bill would provide an important precedent for subsequent enactment of substance abuse parity legislation. 

What can MHAs do? 

Your help is needed to mobilize support for both S. 543, the Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2001, in the Senate, and H.R. 162, the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Parity Amendments of 2001 in the House. It is crucial that MHAs contact their Representatives and Senators ASAP and urge them to co-sponsor these bills. Attached is a list of current co-sponsors; if your Representative and/or Senators are already on this list, please thank them for their support. If not, please help us advocate for these bills by taking the following actions. 

Action Needed 

1. Telephone calls: You may reach all House and Senate offices by calling
   the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 and asking to be connected with the
   pertinent office.
   1. Ask to speak with the Legislative Assistant who handles health issues.
   2. Urge that the Representative co-sponsor H.R. 162 or the Senator
      co-sponsor S. 543. 
2. Write: The Honorable _____________, U.S. Senate, Washington, DC, 20510
   The Honorable _____________, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, DC,
   20515 
3. It will help strengthen our advocacy efforts if you also copy these letters to Ralph Ibson, NMHA Vice President for Government Affairs, and let him know whether or not you received a response. 

What’s the message? 

1. (In each case) the bill would close loopholes in the 1996 Federal parity law, and would provide the same protections that Members of Congress and other Federal employees have under the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program. (The FEHB program instituted a mental health policy this year.) 
2. People in ________ (your state or county) think it’s only fair that, if an insurance plan offers mental health benefits, coverage and out-of-pockets costs for mental health care should be the same as for any other health condition. If such protections are provided to Members of Congress, it’s only fair to provide the same protections to their constituents. 
3. One in five American adults have a mental disorder in any given year. Mental illnesses are real, common, and treatable. There is a range of treatments of well-documented efficacy for most mental disorders. 

Parity is not only fair, it’s affordable, and -- with the 1996 Federal parity law expiring on September 30, 2001 -- it’s time. 

For more information, contact Ralph Ibson, Vice President of Government Affairs, at 703-838-7502 or mailto:ribson@nmha.org. 

House co-sponsors of H.R. 162 

Rep Andrews, Robert E. (D-NJ); Rep Baird, Brian (D-WA); Rep Baldacci, John Elias (D-ME); Rep Barcia, James A. (D-MI); Rep Bentsen, Ken (D-TX); Rep Berkley, Shelley (D-NV); Rep Boehlert, Sherwood L. (R-NY); Rep Bonior, David E. (D-MI); Rep Capps, Lois (D-CA); Rep Capuano, Michael E. (D-MA); Rep Carson, Julia (D-IN); Rep DeFazio, Peter A. (D-OR); Rep DeLauro, Rosa L. (D-CT); Rep Dicks, Norman D. (D-WA); Rep English, Phil (R-PA); Rep Farr, Sam (D-CA); Rep Frank, Barney (D-MA); Rep Gilchrest, Wayne T. (R-MD); Rep Gilman, Benjamin A. (R-NY); Rep Green, Gene (D-TX); Rep Hinchey, Maurice D. (D-NY); Rep Horn, Stephen (R-CA); Rep Jones, Stephanie Tubbs (D-OH); Rep Kaptur, Marcy (D-OH); Rep Kelly, Sue W. (R-NY); Rep Kennedy, Patrick J. (D-RI); Rep Kildee, Dale E. (D-MI); Rep Kleczka, Gerald D. (D-WI); Rep Kucinich, Dennis J. (D-OH); Rep Leach, James A. (R-IA); Rep Matsui, Robert T. (D-CA); Rep McCarthy, Carolyn (D-NY); Rep McCarthy, Karen (D-MO); Rep McDermott, Jim (D-WA); Rep McGovern, James P. (D-MA); Rep McKinney, Cynthia A. (D-GA); Rep McNulty, Michael R. (D-NY); Rep Miller, George (D-CA); Rep Mink, Patsy T. (D-HI); Rep Morella, Constance A. (R-MD); Rep Nadler, Jerrold (D-NY); Rep Ortiz, Solomon P. (D-TX); Rep Owens, Major R. (D-NY); Rep
Pastor, Ed (D-AZ); Rep Price, David E. (D-NC); Rep Rahall, Nick J., II (D-WV); Rep Ramstad, Jim (D-MN); Rep Rivers, Lynn N. (D-MI); Rep Rush, Bobby L. (D-IL); Rep Sanders, Bernard (I-VT); Rep Sandlin, Max (D-TX); Rep Schakowsky, Janice D. (D-IL); Rep Shays, Christopher (R-CT); Rep Stark, Fortney Pete (D-CA); Rep Strickland, Ted (D-OH); Rep Tierney, John F. (D-MA); Rep Udall, Mark (D-CO); Rep Underwood, Robert A. (D-GU); Rep Waxman, Henry A. (D-CA); Rep Woolsey, Lynn C. (D-CA) 

Senate co-sponsors of S. 543 

Sen. Chafee, Lincoln D. (R-RI); Sen. Cochran, Thad (R-MS); Sen. Dodd, Christopher J. (D-CT); Sen. Durbin, Richard J. (D-IL); Sen. Grassley, Charles E. (R-IA) Sen. Johnson, Tim (D-SD); Sen. Kennedy, Edward M (D-MA); Sen. Reed, Jack (D-RI); Sen. Reid, Harry M. (D-NV); Sen. Roberts, Pat (R-KS); Sen. Sarbanes, Paul S. (D-MD); Sen. Specter, Arlen (R-PA); Sen. Warner, John W. (R-VA); Sen. Wellstone, Paul D. (D-MN)

Read NMHA's March 15th update on S. 543
Read NMHA's official statement on S. 543

For more information about the National Mental Health Association and its many programs and activities, visit us at http://www.nmha.org.