Mental health parity bill clears House
Congress approved legislation yesterday that would require privateinsurers to provide the same level of benefits for mental illness asthey do for physical maladies, a change lauded by advocates as a greatshift in the nation’s understanding of mental health.
“We’ve always had a stigma, sort of like mental illness is a character flaw,” said Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), who has struggled with drug and alcohol addiction and co-sponsored the House version with Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-Minn.), a recovering alcoholic. “But now science has moved forward,and we can see the complexities in the brain that lead to eatingdisorders, compulsive disorders. All these connections are being made,the science is just becoming so firm. And it destroys the myth thatthis stuff is a choice.”
The measure has received strong bipartisan support in the House andSenate and has the backing of business, insurance companies, healthadvocates, the medical community and the White House. But its passage into law was not ensured last night.