Alexandria, VA (April 13, 1999) House lawmakers on Tuesday will propose legislation that will eliminate unfair insurance practices used to limit Americans' access to mental health treatments.

Representatives Marge Roukema (R-NJ), Bob Wise (D-WV) and Peter DeFazio (D-OR) will offer legislation to complete the job started by the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996, which eliminated unequal annual and lifetime limits on mental health and physical health treatments. (For example, insurers can no longer impose a $10,000 lifetime limit on mental health care while maintaining a $1 million limit on physical health care.)

The new legislation goes farther by eliminating inpatient and outpatient limits on mental health and substance abuse treatments, as well as unequal patient co-pays on treatments. Insurers typically pay 80 percent or more of physician fees for physical health care but only 50 percent of charges for mental health care. Senators Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Paul Wellstone (D-MN) will offer similar legislation in the Senate.

"For pennies a day, America can afford to end health insurance discrimination against people in need of mental health care," said Michael M. Faenza, President and CEO of the National Mental Health Association (NMHA). "The Roukema/Wise/DeFazio bill would provide true parity for all people with mental illnesses while increasing health insurance premiums only by an estimated one percent. Meanwhile, mental health and substance abuse treatments restore people to full functioning at home and work."

Faenza said:

• New research shows that improving access to behavioral health services may generate medical cost offsets; this is especially true for three groups that tend to overuse medical services-elderly medical inpatients, primary care outpatients with multiple unexplained somatic complaints, and younger adults with alcoholism.

• Depression alone ranks among the top three workplace problems causing a loss of an estimated 200 million work days each year and costing $43.7 billion annually, including $29 billion for worker absenteeism and lost productivity.

• Up to half of all visits to primary care doctors are due to complaints related to or exacerbated by mental or emotional disorders.

• Substance abuse disorders frequently co-occur with mental illnesses and exacerbate many physical illnesses.

• Full parity for mental health and substance treatments in Minnesota have increased insurance costs by less than 1 percent.

• Serious mental illnesses are common but treatable. One in twenty adults has a serious mental illness and one in ten children has a serious emotional disorder.

• Research shows that without treatment, children with emotional disturbances often become teenage substance abusers, who in turn become adults with co-occurring serious mental illness and addiction.

"We should treat mental health and substance abuse disorders the same way we treat other health complaints - aggressively and compassionately," Faenza said. "Mental, emotional and substance abuse disorders cause real pain and disrupt lives just as physical health problems do. They can be treated just like the flu, diabetes and cancer at little cost to our health system and with great savings to society."

"Most insurance is not generous, but most Americans are," Faenza said. A June 1997 poll conducted by the National Mental Health Association found that 93 percent of Americans support an end to insurance discrimination against people with mental health care needs. Support for mental health parity does not vary by age, race, sex, income, or belief that a family member may or may not need mental health care.

"Parity in health insurance is a matter of civil rights," said Faenza. "Insurance firms discriminate against people with mental health and substance abuse disorders. By passing parity legislation, members of Congress will show they care deeply about all Americans. NMHA fully endorses the Roukema/Wise/DeFazio bill and will work hard to see it enacted."