August 6, 2001 Senate Committee Approves Mental Health Parity Bill On August 1, 2001, the Senate Committee on Health, Employment, Labor & Pensions (HELP) voted unanimously to send Senate Bill 543, the Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2001, to the Senate. The bill expands on the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996, which served as a first step for establishing parity by equating annual and lifetime limits on insurance benefits for mental illnesses. If S 543 becomes law, it will cover the full range of mental illnesses, including major depression, bipolar disorder (manic-depression), schizophrenia and . . .