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E-News June 17, 2003 Vol. 02-30
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Legislation Would Weaken State Mental Illness Insurance Parity
House Association Health Plan Legislation Would Weaken State Mental
Illness
Insurance Parity Laws!
Later this week the U.S. House of Representatives will consider legislation to
vastly expand multi-employer Association Health Plans (AHPs) and undermine
existing state laws that require health plans to cover treatment for mental
illness on the same terms and conditions as all other illnesses - commonly
referred to as parity. This proposal (HR 660) would significantly expand the
scope of a federal law (known as ERISA), that exempts self-insured employer
health plans from state regulation. By expanding ERISA, HR 660 would encourage
employers that currently offer health plans for their workers (and their
families) to switch away from coverage that meets a parity standard, i.e.
plans
that cover mental illnesses the same as all other illnesses.
The AHPs envisioned by HR 660 would be exempt from all state insurance laws,
including: state parity laws, minimum coverage standards for mental illness
treatment and other consumer protections. The supporters of AHPs assert that
HR 660 would help make employer coverage more affordable and ease the growth
among the uninsured. However, several recent studies have found that AHPs are
not effective in reaching uninsured workers and their families and are more
likely to fail as a result of insolvency.
ACTION REQUESTED
NAMI advocates are strongly encouraged to contact their House member to
urge
them to oppose HR 660. Remind your House member that this well-intentioned
legislation would have enormous negative consequences for workers and their
families. In NAMI's view, HR 660 would:
* severely undermine the effectiveness of the 34 state mental illness
insurance
parity laws,
* fail to address the problem of the uninsured - studies demonstrate that most
employers that would switch to AHP coverage already provide coverage on their
own, and
* place workers and their families at risk of losing coverage - studies show
that AHPs have a long history of plan failures and insolvency (AHPs would not
have to meet current solvency and reserve standards enforced by state
insurance
commissioners).
All House members can be reached by calling the Capitol Switchboard toll free
at 1-800-839-5276 or at 202-224-3121 or online through
www.congress.org.
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The NAMI E-News is an electronic newsletter delivering
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Thank you.
Last Updated on
04/14/04
webmaster@namiscc.org
