Update on Mental Health Insurance Parity

Update on Mental Health Insurance Parity in Politics and Legislation

U.S. Representatives Patrick Kennedy and Jim Ramstad are co-sponsoring a new and revised mental health insurance parity bill that will soon be sent to the House floor for approval, reported the Kaiser Network and CQ Today.

The bill would require health insurance companies to provide equal coverage for physical and mental health conditions.

A similar measure was stalled because lawmakers estimated it would cost $4 billion over the next decade. To address costs, Congressmen Kennedy and Ramstad included a ban on specialty hospitals owned and operated by physicians to save money.

How would a ban on specialty hospitals cut costs?

Opponents of specialty hospitals say these facilities tend to perform expensive medical procedures, and attract patients who are healthier and have better insurance. That leaves other hospitals with more uninsured and sicker patients — raising costs for everyone.

They also argue that it’s unfair for physicians to refer patients to health care facilities where they have financial interest, according to a report (PDF file) to Congress from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.

Some Republican lawmakers advocate specialty hospitals, pointing out they provide higher-quality care and promote innovative medical procedures.

The Kaiser article didn’t say what chance the measure had in the House, but mental health parity is gaining awareness.

The new bill is almost a follow-up from legislation passed last month that extended a law prohibiting insurers from setting different lifetime maximums and annual limits on mental health benefits.

Last year, Congressman Patrick Kennedy’s father, Senator Edward Kennedy, sponsored a similar mental health parity bill that was passed in the U.S. Senate.

Quick Update: The House is expected to approve the bill, wrote the WSJ Health Blog. More than half of the House is co-sponsoring the measure, which essentially guarantees its passage.

But because it’s different from the Senate version, lawmakers from both Houses of Congress will have to compromise on the bill’s provisions before sending it to the president.

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