Mental Health Insurance Parity, Finally

U.S. Congress isn't always known for efficiency. They aren't well-known for a consensus of support for any issue. But last week, lawmakers on Capitol Hill achieved both. In the matter of a little Congressional housekeeping, the mental health parity bill we have been following was included in the $700 billion Wall Street bailout legislation.

Even more surprising, mental health parity had virtually unanimous support - in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Senate, and the White House. The new law, now in effect, means over one-third of all Americans with health insurance will start getting better coverage for mental health conditions, wrote The New York Times.

The Times article states an estimates 113 million people will receive better mental health coverage. The new and improved coverage starts January 1, 2010 for most plans.

Health insurance companies, as well as employer groups opposed such legislation, initially. U.S. Senators that created the bill also brought all the interested parties to the negotiating table. Those senators are Pete Domenici, Edward Kennedy, Michael Enzi.

They came out with the bill that is now law."It was an incredible process. We built the bill piece by piece from the ground up. It's a good harbinger for future efforts on health care reform," said one trade group vice president involved in the negotiation.