Editorials, Opinion Pieces Discuss Passage of Mental Health Parity Bill

President Bush on Friday signed into law a $700 billion bailout of Wall Street firms that included mental health parity legislation (HR 1424). The legislation requires group health plans of 51 or more employees to cover mental illnesses at the same level as physical ailments. It does not require the plans to offer such coverage but it must be equivalent if they do. The mental health legislation was added to the larger bailout package as a means of enticing House members who voted against the previous bailout measure but supported a parity bill (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 10/6). Summaries of editorials and opinion pieces related to the bill appear below.

Editorials

• The Hill: "For 12 years, mental health advocates have been lobbying" for parity legislation, and although the bill "attracted critics over the years," proponents "on both sides of the aisle kept doggedly pursuing it," an editorial in The Hill states. According to The Hill, "Despite promising signs during the 110th Congress," the bill seemed to be "headed for the heap of thousands of bills that are pursued but fall short of the president's desk," but "Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-Minn.) helped change that" by voting for the bill last week, after voting against a similar bailout package earlier in the week that did not include the parity bill. The editorial states, "Retiring members usually don't have much leverage," but "Ramstad proved to be the exception to the rule." There has "long been a stigma associated with mental health," but lawmakers who "fought for this bill have helped fight that unfortunate stigma," the editorial concludes (The Hill, 10/7).
  
  
• Houston Chronicle: The parity bill was "[o]ne of the most important and far-reaching" additions to the bailout package, and advocates for the mentally ill are correct to see it as a "civil rights milestone," a Chronicle editorial states. The bill is "a great business investment," as American workers "lose 200 million work days to depression alone" annually, "at a cost of $44 billion to employers for treatment, absenteeism and lost productivity," according to the Chronicle. The editorial states, "Another positive sign is that the stigma long associated with mental illness is lessening," adding, "The more people become familiar with scientific advances," the "less likely they are to hide an illness or fail to seek treatment." The editorial concludes that "in these dispiriting days ... it's heartening that in at least one area of American life, our government did the right thing in treating mental and physical illness equally" (Houston Chronicle, 10/6).
  
  
• Minneapolis Star Tribune: "Its surprise resurrection wasn't pretty," but the parity bill's "passage is a health policy milestone," and "one with a surprisingly broad range of supporters," the Star Tribune writes in an editorial. "While the real-world impact remains to be seen, there are some reassuring cost estimates and provisions built into the legislation," including the Congressional Budget Office projection that the law will lead to a premium increase of between 0.2% and 0.4% for group health plans, according to the Star Tribune. The editorial adds that the law's "costs and impact need to be monitored carefully," because side effects such as a "reduction in the number of employers offering insurance or narrowing by insurers of the range of products they offer" are possible. However, it concludes, "At the same time, the new law is a bold and pioneering step -- one that will help end the discrimination and stigma faced far too long by families grappling with mental illness" (Minneapolis Star Tribune, 10/7).

Opinion Piece
Bob Ray Sanders, Fort Worth Star-Telegram: "The stigma of mental illness, rooted in ignorance, coupled with the hardship of finding and paying for adequate health care [has] forced thousands of people into a lifetime of suffering," but "[h]elp is on the way" and "it took a meltdown on Wall Street to get it," Star-Telegram columnist Sanders writes. He continues that the provision was among the "ornaments" added to the "Christmas tree of a financial recovery bill." Sanders adds, "Surprisingly, the new requirement will only increase premiums by an average of about two-tenths of 1%, according to the Congressional Budget Office." He concludes, "Regardless of what you think about the Congress or its massive bailout plan, the legislators deserve credit for finally doing the right thing -- even if it's long overdue" (Sanders, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 10/8).