Mental health parity: Cover all conditions the same way

Mental illness is no less real than any other medical condition, but health plans typically don't give it equal coverage. Congress could change that.

Editorial. April 22/29, 2002.

Among the most blatant inequities in health care is one that could quickly be made right and at very little cost. Most Americans would recognize an irresistible combination here. Will Congress?

This particular problem is the gross discrimination by health plans against treatment for mental illness. The remedy is legislation that has a proven track record in the Senate and is now before the House. The measure would replace a mental health parity law already in place but that is riddled with loopholes.

The AMA is a long-time advocate for mental health parity and recently provided subcommittee testimony at a hearing that preceded formal introduction of the Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act (HR 4066). A nearly identical bill, introduced by Sens. Pete Domenici (R, N.M.) and Paul Wellstone (D, Minn.), passed in the Senate last year (it must come up again in the Senate due to a procedural issue). The AMA strongly supports this legislation.

The unequal status of mental health treatment is one of the crueler twists in American health care. The patient is fortunate enough to be among the insured, but the coverage for mental health care may be a fraction of what would be paid for other types of medical care. Often, health plans require high co-pays and deductibles while slashing lifetime and annual coverage limits. [...]