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Statement on the Senate Full Parity Bill
For Release:
Thursday, March 15, 2001
Contact: Pattie Cinelli
202-336-5898
By Russ Newman, Ph.D., J.D.
Executive Director for Professional Practice
American Psychological Association
“The American Psychological Association applauds Senators Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Paul Wellstone (D-MN) for their continued fight to provide parity coverage for mental health disorders. The Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2001 marks another important step forward in the battle for nondiscriminatory mental health benefits coverage by closing all the loopholes in the 1996 Mental Health Parity Act.
“Having a mental health disorder can be as serious as having a heart attack or any other debilitating, life-threatening physical health disorder. With the passage of this bill, insurers may no longer arbitrarily limit the number of hospital days or outpatient treatment sessions, or use higher copayments or deductibles for people in need of mental health care. Both Senators Domenici and Wellstone have pledged their full support to ending benefits discrimination. We look forward to working with them to pass this important legislation.
“We have learned much in the last two years. The U.S. Surgeon General asserted in his landmark 1999 report that there is no scientific justification for treating mental and physical health differently. Yet the U.S. General Accounting Office found that 87 percent of health plans that technically comply with the Parity Act have evaded its spirit by replacing dollar limits with other arbitrary limits. All loopholes must be closed for all persons with mental disorders.
“The Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act also improves the 1996 Parity Act by significantly increasing the number of working people who will benefit from parity by providing that insurers of businesses with 26 or more employees must meet the bill's requirements. It also removes the one percent premium exemption, which established a cumbersome procedure and a way for insurers to potentially circumvent the 1996 law. Furthermore, this bill allows states to enact stronger parity laws, while keeping already existing parity laws.”
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The American Psychological Association (APA), located in Washington, DC, is the largest scientific and professional organization representing psychology in the United States and is the world's largest association of psychologists. APA's membership includes more than 159,000 researchers, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. Through its divisions in 52 subfields of psychology and its affiliations with 58 state, territorial and Canadian provincial associations, APA works to advance psychology as a science, as a profession, and as a means of promoting human welfare.
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