Mental Health Parity Bill Passes House, But Differs From Senate Bill

The US House of Representatives has passed a bill requiring group health plans to provide coverage for mental illnesses that is more comparable to that for physical illnesses.

The Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act, HR 1424, which was passed March 5 by a vote of 268 to 148, extends the parity in annual and lifetime dollar limits for mental healthcare provided by the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 to include parity in cost-sharing requirements such as copays and deductibles and treatment limitations such as day and visit limits.

"We commend the House of Representatives for making the sound decision to pass HR 1424 and for its continued effort to enact legislation that will end discrimination against patients with mental illnesses," American Psychiatric Association (APA) president Carolyn Rabinowitz, MD, said in a statement from that organization.

In an interview with Medscape Psychiatry , James Scully, MD, medical director and CEO for the APA, called the passage "historic." "We're very pleased and applaud finally that, after many years — indeed decades — of trying to end discrimination against people with mental illness in the insurance world, this bill passed the House. It's long overdue, but we know it's been a long struggle to educate people that mental illnesses are real and diagnosable and treatable the same way as other medical illnesses."

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