Legislation for Mental Health Parity Passed
Earlier this month, the House of Representatives passed legislation that will improve the offering of care for mental illness. The bill requires that mental health care offered by insurers is comparable to care provided for physical disease. A similar bill was already passed by the U.S. Senate. Information about the bills was printed in the New York Times.
The House bill does not apply to employer-sponsored health plans that cover less than fifty individuals. As well, individual plans will not fall under the requirements of the new law. Instead, this will target large group health plans sponsored by employers. The bills passed by both legislative arms will prevent plans that differentiate between the coverage offered for mental and physical disease.
The current system often entails higher co-payments and more strict spending for mental illness. This practice is considered by some to be discriminatory, but is legal with current regulations across the country.
To account for the additional costs, the House bill requires increased rebates from pharmaceutical companies paid to state Medicaid agencies. Those would amount to $4.3 billion over a ten year period. Additionally, physician-owned hospitals will face additional restrictions amounting to an additional $2 billion over the same time period. The proposed regulations will prevent physicians from referring patients to hospitals which provide the doctors with financial incentives through ownership interest.
An additional element in the House bill prevents discrimination based on findings from genetic testing by either employers or health insurers. This component was not in the Senate bill. The President announced opposition for the House bill, but a veto is not anticipated.
March 14, 2008 Related topics: Legal & legislative, Psychiatry & Neurology