Groundbreaking mental health legislation passes
“On Friday, they won an enormous victory when Congress passed the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity & Addiction Equity Act of 2008.
The law doesn’t require health insurers to cover mental health care. But if they do, they’ll have to treat psychological and addictive disorders just as they do other medical conditions.
Put another way, insurers will no longer be able to limit the number of visits or charge higher deductibles and co-payments for mental health and substance abuse services.
“If you have insurance, then your mental health care must be equal to the benefits you get for any other disease,” said Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), quoted in a Reuters article. His daughter has schizophrenia.”
I was so happy this passed! As the child of a psychiatrist and a psychologist (yeah, I’m messed up) as well as someone who worked with addiction treatment providers and experts in the field to get this bill through, I’m glad our country is recognizing mental illness and addiction as legitimate sicknesses. Still, this is only a step. I believe mental health coverage should be mandatory. Dare to dream…
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