The recovery community is celebrating the landmark passage of the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (H.R. 6983). After several failed attempts over the past 12 months to get the long-stalled bill on the President’s desk, the addiction and mental health parity act was just one of many measures added to the hugely controversial bailout bill after it failed to pass the House.
After passage by the Senate, the bailout bill went back before the House, where one of the bill’s chief sponsors, Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-Minn.), who had voted against the initial version of the rescue package, changed his vote in support of the bill. The Oct. 3 vote on the historic bailout package was 263 to 171. Later that day, H.R. 6983 became law. The bill will actually take effect on Oct. 3, 2009, one year from the date of its passage.
“There’s too much at stake to let the legislation fail,” said Ramstad, just before the bill’s passage. “The revised bill is a recovery bill for the economy and a recovery bill for millions of Americans suffering the ravages of mental illness and addiction.”
With the passage of H.R. 6983, millions of individuals and families who have suffered through the pain of mental illness and addiction will finally receive the coverage to which they are entitled under the $700 million rescue package. This legislation requires insurance plans to afford the same coverage to mental health and addictive disorders that it does for medical/surgical coverage, and thus, represents a significant step toward ending discrimination against people who suffer from these disorders. Specifically, business-sponsored group health plans that include more than 50 people are prevented from imposing limits on inpatient days or outpatient visits, and from requiring higher deductibles or cost-sharing for mental illness or addiction treatment.
I know that many of you share my gratitude for the tireless work of our leaders in Congress – especially Rep. Ramstad and Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI), chief sponsors in the House, and Senate sponsors Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) – for keeping the bill at the forefront in an election year that is rife with so many critical issues.
Wellstone Action co-founder David Wellstone, who is the son of the late Paul Wellstone, who championed the legislation that bears his name, had this to say about the bill that is part of his father’s legacy: “This bill is a major achievement, one I know my dad would be proud of. This bill will go a long way to ease the pain and suffering of those with mental illness and addiction, and I am proud to have been part of this effort.”
Rep. Patrick Kennedy echoed this sentiment in a press release following the passage of the parity bill. “This legislation is one more step in the long civil rights struggle to ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to reach their potential,” he said. “For far too long, health insurance companies have used the stigma of mental health and substance abuse as an excuse to deny coverage for those biological disorders. That ends today when this critical legislation outlaws the discrimination that is embedded in our laws and our policies.”
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