Mind And Body

The bailout legislation enacted yesterday did include one provision that health care advocates have long waited for: the Mental Health Parity Act. This law prohibits private insurers from imposing more restrictive limits on mental health services than those for other medical services. For example, an insurer cannot require higher co-pays for mental health visits compared to other types of clinic visits. And it can’t cover fewer mental health visits compared to the number of covered visits for other medical services.

The Act isn’t perfect–small businesses with fifty or fewer employees are exempt and insurers aren’t required to offer mental health services. But it goes a long way towards creating better and more equitable access to mental health benefits for millions of people. The late Senator Paul Wellstone and his wife Sheila were both early and vocal supporters of this legislation, so it’s fitting that Minnesota Representative Jim Ramstad played an instrumental role in the law’s passage.

Taken together with the recent passage of the ADA Amendments Act, this Congress has created more protections for people with disabilities than any in recent memory. Granted, the previous Congresses in this decade set the bar pretty low in that regard, but both of these laws deserve recognition as significant milestones on the road to a more just and accessible society.