Action:  Use the toll-free Parity Hotline, 1-866-parity4 (1-866-727-4894), to call your Representative to urge cosponsorship of the new House mental health parity legislation, H.R. 1402.  (The Parity Hotline reaches the Capitol switchboard, which can connect callers to their Members of Congress.)

Targets: All members of the House of Representatives. 

Priority Targets: (20 Republican + 23 Democratic prior cosponsors not yet on the new bill)

Cramer (D-AL), A. Davis (D-AL), Faleomavaega (D-AS), Renzi (R-AZ), Gary Miller (R-CA), M. Thompson (D-CA), Watson (D-CA), Norton (D-DC), Harris (R-FL), Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Gingrey (R-GA), Norwood (R-GA), D. Scott (D-GA), Rush (D-IL), Shimkus (R-IL), Alexander (R-LA), Dingell (D-MI), Sabo (D-MN), Pickering (R-MS), B. Thompson (D-MS), Skelton (D-MO), Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), LoBiondo (R-NJ), Rothman (D-NJ), Lowey (D-NY), McHugh (R-NY), Sweeney (R-NY), B. Miller (D-NC), Pomeroy (D-ND), LaTourette (R-OH), Tubbs Jones (D-OH), Turner (R-OH), Blumenauer (D-OR), C. Weldon (R-PA), H. Brown (R-SC), Clyburn (D-SC), J. Wilson (R-SC), L. Davis (D-TN), Wamp (R-TN), Hall (R-TX), Matheson (D-UT), Kind (D-WI).

Message for those who have not cosponsored H.R. 1402:

“I am calling to ask the Representative to [again] cosponsor H.R. 1402, the Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act.  Parity is a fair and affordable solution that will save lives and families.”

Message for those who have already cosponsored H.R. 1402: For cosponsor list go to http://thomas.loc.gov/bss/d109query.html and enter “HR 1402” in the first box.

Message: “I am calling to thank the Representative for cosponsoring H.R. 1402, the Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act.  Parity is a fair and affordable solution that will save lives and families.”

Background: The Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act has been reintroduced as H.R. 1402 by Representatives Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) and Jim Ramstad (R-MN).  With one difference, this bill is identical to their parity bill from 2003, H.R. 953, which gained the cosponsorship of a record 249 Members of the House.  That number included an all-time high 46 House Republicans.  As 226 of the 249 previous cosponsors returned to the House, we have a large base of support that must be recontacted and asked for cosponsorship anew. 

The difference in the new legislation is that it no longer specifically excludes substance abuse services from parity protection.  This is fair and appropriate in light of new data showing that parity in the Federal Employee Health Benefit Program has had minimal cost.  Members of Congress and their staffs are among the 8.5 million federal employees, retirees and dependents who have had parity for BOTH mental health and substance use disorders since January 2001.  The Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act was modeled on that federal employee benefit.

House Outlook: We’re pleased that 198 Members of the House have already added their names as cosponsors of H.R. 1402.  These Members should be thanked.   As before, we want to get as many Republicans as possible to cosponsor the bill, demonstrating the bipartisan nature of this issue.

Senate Outlook: Senators Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA) are waiting to introduce parity in the Senate while they discuss the legislation with the new chairman of the Health Committee, Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY).  They are encouraged by the Chairman’s receptivity to the issue and hope that they can gain his support for parity legislation prior to its introduction.  That may be instrumental in preventing parity from being blocked by parity opponents in the Senate, no matter how outnumbered they are.  The Domenici/Kennedy bill last Congress had 70 cosponsors in the Senate.

Bill’s Purpose: The Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act expands the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 by prohibiting group health plans from imposing treatment or financial limitations on mental health benefits that are different from those applied to medical/surgical services. The legislation closes the loopholes that allow discrimination in the co-payment, coinsurance, deductible, maximum out-of-pocket limit and day and visit limits.  It applies only to group health plans already providing mental health benefits, and excludes (as does current law) health plans sponsored by employers of fewer than 50 people.

Resource: A one page fact sheet based on information from Rep. Kennedy’s office follows:

The Senator Paul Wellstone Mental Health
Equitable Treatment Act of 2005 (H.R. 1402)

Introduced by Reps. Patrick Kennedy and Jim Ramstad

Equal Coverage for All Mental Disorders

• Expands the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 (MHPA) to prohibit a covered group health plan from imposing treatment limitations or financial requirements on mental health and chemical dependency treatment benefits that differ from limitations on medical and surgical benefits.

• The bill only applies to group health plans that opt to provide mental health benefits and is modeled after the mental health benefits provided through the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP).

• Provides full parity for mental health conditions listed in the latest version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the industry standard diagnostic manual used by Medicare, Medicaid, the FEHBP, the FDA, the legal system and 13 states’ parity laws.

Requirements and Exemptions

• Coverage is contingent on the diagnosis being included in an authorized treatment plan that is in accordance with standard protocols and meets medical necessity criteria.

• There is a small business exemption for companies with 50 or fewer employees.

Cost

• A new study of the FEHBP program has shown that access to care improved and costs were negligible.

• Research shows that better mental health care results in savings to businesses in the form of lower absenteeism and higher productivity.  According to the World Health Organization over one-fifth of lost days of productivity are the result of mental and addictive disorders. 

• Every credible study of states experiences with mental health parity have shown that mental health costs rise minimally or fall after the implementation of parity, as people have greater access to less expensive forms of treatment.

The Need for Parity

• The Surgeon General has estimated that roughly 20 percent of the U.S. population has a diagnosable mental disorder in any given year, but only one in three receives treatment.

• Untreated depression costs American businesses $70 billion each year in lost productivity and worker absenteeism according to the Wall Street Journal; NIMH has found the U.S. loses $180 billion per year due to all mental illness.

• The GAO reports that 87 percent of health plans routinely force patients to pay more for mental health care than other health care, put stricter limits on mental health treatment than on other health treatment, or both.