CQ’s Carey Discusses Mental Health Parity Bill; Medicare Advantage Marketing Regulations; House, Senate Budget Resolutions

Mary Agnes Carey, associate editor of CQ HealthBeat, discusses House approval of mental health parity legislation, insurers' request for Medicare Advantage marketing regulations, and House and Senate approval of fiscal year 2009 budget resolutions in this week's "Health on the Hill from kaisernetwork.org and CQ."

According to Carey, the House voted 268-148 to approve a bill (HR 1424) that would require most health insurers to provide equal levels of coverage for physical and mental illnesses. The measure would require insurers to cover a broad range of mental health conditions, but it would not pre-empt state laws with tougher provisions. The Senate has passed a narrower mental health parity bill (S 558), and some senators have expressed concern that the two chambers will not be able to reconcile their differences in conference committee, Carey says. The Bush administration also opposes the broader House bill, according to Carey.

Carey also says that health insurance industry officials met with the Senate Finance Committee last week and asked lawmakers to enact further regulations on MA plan marketing. Some of the recommendations proposed by the industry include prohibiting door-to-door sales and cold calling. Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) said that the marketing provisions would be included in broader Medicare legislation this year. Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) also has introduced legislation that would increase marketing regulations for the plans, Carey says.

Lastly, Carey discusses the House and Senate FY 2009 budget resolutions, which would include additional funding for medical research, health care for veterans and other domestic programs. The House plan includes $22 billion more in discretionary spending than President Bush's request, and the Senate version includes $18 billion above Bush's request. The House plan also would include a $50 billion increase for SCHIP. Both the House and Senate plans would increase Medicare spending by millions of dollars. Republicans have criticized the budget resolutions for not including plans to reduce long-term spending for Medicare and Medicaid, Carey says. According to Carey, the two-week recess for Congress scheduled to begin March 14 might delay final action on the budget (Carey, "Health on the Hill from kaisernetwork.org and CQ," 3/10).

The complete audio version of "Health on the Hill," transcript and resources for further research are available online at kaisernetwork.org.