Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), a senior Democrat on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) and chairman of its Subcommittee on Children and Families, lauded last night’s House passage of the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Parity Act.  If enacted into law, this legislation would help ensure that all Americans who have insurance coverage for physical ailments cannot be discriminated against for needing comparable insurance coverage for a mental illness.  The Senate approved mental health parity legislation last year, which Senator Dodd cosponsored.    

“We’ve just taken another important step toward ensuring that mental illness is covered by health insurance just as any physical injury or disease,” said Dodd.  “Unfortunately, mental health and substance-related disorders still carry a negative stigma that often discourages patients from pursuing and accessing the help they need.  In the absence of strong federal mental health parity, individuals who need treatment for their mental illness or substance-related disorder often face discriminatory practices such as higher co-pays, treatment limits, or limited access to healthcare providers.  This bill will correct those inequities.  I applaud my colleagues in the House for passing this legislation, and hope that the House and Senate can move quickly to send a strong mental health parity bill to the President’s desk.” 

Each year, more than 50 million American adults suffer from mental illnesses.  Yet despite the compelling need for treatment for these biologically based brain disorders, under many health plans, coverage of mental health benefits is much more restrictive than benefits for medical or surgical care. 

Senator Dodd has been a long-standing supporter of past mental health parity legislation, such as the Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act.  Dodd was an original cosponsor of the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 which was authored by Senators Pete Domenici and the late Paul Wellstone and became law.  Dodd has fought to enact stronger federal mental health parity ever since.

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