New Legislation Would End Insurance Discrimination For The Mentally Ill

OPEN MINDS, The Behavioral Health & Social Service Industry Analyst

Industry News

In March 2001, Senators Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Paul Wellstone (D-MN) introduced legislation that would end insurance discrimination for people with severe mental illnesses. The new bill, the Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2001 (S 543), would expand the modest Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 and provide full parity in insurance coverage for all mental disorders. The legislation comes just in time because the 1996 federal parity law expires on October 1, 2001.