Support of mental health parity bill

By RACHEL LA CORTE

ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER



OLYMPIA, Wash. -- The sister of House Speaker Frank Chopp told lawmakers Monday that they need to end insurance discrimination and pass a bill that would force health insurance companies to cover mental health the same way they cover physical health.



Jo-Anne Wilson, 60, told the Senate Health & Long-Term Care Committee that after she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1986, she had to pay significant out-of-pocket costs for many items associated with her treatment, including most prescriptions.



"I received treatment, but at a high financial and emotional price," she said.



Wilson was one of several people who argued in support of a Senate bill mandating that mental health coverage, when provided under an insurance policy, be equal to physical health coverage. A version of the bill passed the House last month.



"Limits on therapy and hospital days, and higher out-of-pocket costs are a form of discrimination that is every bit as profound as discrimination based on race," Wilson said.



The bill mandates parity for mental health coverage. For example, if the copayment for a diabetes or asthma drug is $10, the copayment for an anti-anxiety medication would also be $10. If a health plan allowed unlimited doctor visits for physical ailments, it couldn't cap mental health therapy sessions.



State law does not require employers to offer health benefits and it doesn't require health insurers to offer mental health coverage. This bill would not change that; it would simply require plans that do offer mental health coverage to offer those benefits at the same level and cost as benefits for medical and surgical services.



Many of those arguing against the bill Monday noted that many employers are already struggling under increasing health costs. Opponents have argued that the bill will increase costs and force some employers to stop offering health benefits.



"Mandating a benefit helps no one who loses their coverage," said Mellani Hughes McAleenan, with the Association of Washington Business.



The measure would not cover employees of businesses with less than 50 people, self-insured companies such as Boeing and people who purchase individual plans.



Ronald Bachman, an actuary who did a report for PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, said that the actual cost increase is less than 1 percent. He cited the more than 30 other states, like Minnesota and Vermont, where parity has been introduced at some level. The bill would phase in mental health parity requirements over four years beginning in 2006.



"There is no state that has implemented mental health parity that has reduced it," he said. "There is no study that shows this breaks the bank. There is just no evidence."



Mel Sorensen, a lobbyist with America's Health Insurance Plans and the Washington Association of Health Underwriters, said he believed the cost differential would be higher than 1 percent, but that even if it weren't, employers would suffer tremendous financial impact.



"The dollar amounts that are represented by even small percentage increases are not insubstantial," he said. "For $1 billion in underwritten premiums ... a 1 percent impact is $10 million. It cannot be said that this proposal comes without costs."



Psychiatrist Greg Simon said that people who are depressed miss two times as many work days as other employees, and that the cost of providing psychiatric services would be offset by the increase in productivity and decrease in absenteeism.



"Depression is just as disabling or more disabling than major medical conditions like heart disease, emphysema or arthritis," he said.



Wilson, who spent nearly 25 years as a public school teacher, said her illness eventually led to her being declared disabled and having to leave her profession, something she said was "a great personal loss."



"If people do not get early care, they are more likely to become disabled, as I did," she said.



Chopp came to listen to his sister's testimony, and hugged her after the hearing.



"I'm extremely proud of her," he said.



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The mental health parity bill is Senate Bill 5450. The bill that passed the House and is now being heard in the Senate is Senate House Bill 1154.