House Passes Bill Aimed at Mental Health ‘Parity’ ; Measure Calls for Care on Par With Physical Coverage

OLYMPIA Health insurance companies would have to cover mental health the same way they cover physical health, under a bill the state House passed Friday.

The mental health bill goes next to the state Senate, where Senate leaders said it stands a very good chance of passing.

The bill mandates “parity” for mental health. For example, if the co-payment for a cholesterol drug is $10, the co-payment for an anti- anxiety medication would be $10. If your health plan allows unlimited doctor visits for physical ailments, there can’t be a cap on therapy sessions.

State law does not require employers to offer health benefits and it doesn’t require health insurers to offer mental health coverage. This bill would not change that. It would simply require plans that do offer mental health coverage to offer those benefits at the same level and cost as benefits for medical and surgical services.

Republicans, some of whom voted for the bill reluctantly, said they support the idea of mental health parity but are worried it will increase costs and force some employers to stop offering health benefits.

Minimal cost increases

Democrats said experience in other states has proven that expanding mental health coverage doesn’t noticeably increase costs. Analysis by the governor’s budget office determined that claims costs in the Uniform Medical Plan for state employees would increase .3 percent if the bill becomes law.

“Nine states have full-scale parity, and no one has backed off,” said Rep. Shay Schual-Berke, D-Normandy Park, who sponsored House Bill 1154. “It is time to stop inflicting upon ourselves this insane and artificial distinction between mental health and physical health.”

Nothing would stop insurers from dropping mental health benefits altogether, but Schual-Berke said that hasn’t happened in other states.

Two legislators who are also nurses talked about their personal experiences. Rep. Dawn Morrell, D-Puyallup, told legislators how she sat one night in the emergency room with a family who lacked mental health coverage and whose son could get treatment only after he tried to kill himself.

Rep. Tami Green, D-Lakewood, worked for a community mental health agency that stopped treating uninsured patients unless they were in crisis, because of budget cuts.

She remembered one 15-year-old who showed classic signs of severe depression, but she had to turn him away because he wasn’t in crisis and his parents’ insurance didn’t include mental health benefits.

Green said she felt like she was saying, “Your son is showing signs of a severe heart attack, but sorry, I can’t do anything until he stops breathing and his heart stops beating, and then I can administer CPR.”

The bill would phase in mental health parity requirements over four years beginning in 2006.

The measure would not cover employees of businesses with less than 50 people, self-insured companies such as Boeing, and people who purchase individual plans.

The bill passed 67-25, with bipartisan support. Many Republicans said they were voting for the bill reluctantly or voting no because they believe the state shouldn’t put more mandates on a health insurance system that is already burdened by high costs.

Update

Previously: Employers and insurers do not have to provide mental health coverage on par with typical health care benefits.

What’s new: The House passes a bill requiring parity for mental health coverage for those that provide other health care benefits.

What’s next: The state Senate takes up the measure.