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eNewsletter - October 2, 2007
Congressional Action on Ending Insurance Discrimination
The US House of Representatives and US Senate are moving forward to address the insurance discrimination faced by people with addiction and mental illness. The Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act, H.R. 1424, has been “reported out” or passed by the full House Ways and Means Committee, by a vote of 27 to 13.
The vote largely followed party lines with Representatives Ramstad (R-MN), English (R-PA) and Weller (R-IL) the only Republicans voting with the Democrats to report out the bill. In the House, the next step is a “mark up” before the House Energy and Commerce committee. This is the third and final committee with jurisdiction over the bill before it can be brought before the full House for a vote.
On September 18th, the Senate passed S. 558, the “Mental Health Parity Act of 2007.” Here’s a comparison between the Senate bill (Manager’s amendment) and H.R. 1424.