Republican Senators Block Plan To Pass Mental Health Parity Bill by Unanimous Consent
Senate Democrats on Wednesday tried to determine whether House-approved mental health parity legislation (HR 6983) could pass by unanimous consent but faced opposition from Republicans, CongressDaily reports (CongressDaily, 9/25). The bill would require health insurers to cover mental illnesses at the same level as physical ailments. The House on Tuesday approved the bill as a stand-alone measure, while the Senate attached its mental health parity bill to legislation (HR 6049, S 3335) that would delay expiring tax breaks, among other things (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 9/24).
According to a GOP aide, Republicans were concerned that support for a free-standing measure would reopen the bipartisan Senate tax-extender package. Senators have said that the tax-extender package cannot be changed or the agreement reached on the legislation would fall apart. According to CongressDaily, House Democratic leaders are not acting on the Senate package and "instead chopped it up for consideration and did not include mental health parity" (CongressDaily, 9/25).
Compromise Legislation Examined
Two newspapers on Thursday examined the House and Senate approval on Tuesday of compromise mental health parity legislation. Summaries appear below.
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AP/Philadelphia Inquirer: The "two chambers will have to pass a final version before it can become law, but time is quickly passing for this Congress," the AP/Inquirer reports. The measure is expected to cost the federal government about $3.4 billion over 10 years, and private companies are expected to deduct more health expenses from federal income taxes (Freking, AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 9/25).
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Wall Street Journal: "Over the last 15 years, both the House and Senate had passed different versions of the bill, only to see them founder," but now "the bill has support of business and insurance groups," the Journal reports. According to a recent Hewitt Associates survey, about one in four employers already offers mental health parity, though it is not clear whether those plans would follow the bill's requirements. President Bush has expressed support for the measure, and if he signs it into law, the legislation would take effect nationwide in January 2010 (Zhang, Wall Street Journal, 9/25).
