October 6, 2008

AMHCA Applauds Enactment of Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act

Alexandria, Va., October 6, 2008 – By a vote of 263 to 171, the U.S. House of Representatives, on October 3, 2008, gave final approval to the Paul Wellstone-Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, as part of the Emergency Stabilization Act (H.R. 1424). President George W. Bush signed the legislation into law several hours later.

The American Mental Health Counselors Association (AMHCA) applauds the 110th Congress for including the mental health and substance abuse parity language in the economic rescue legislation, and the President for signing this legislation into law. Enactment of the bill ends nearly a decade long effort to require group health plans to cover treatment for mental illness on the same terms and conditions as for all other illnesses. Continue reading →

The New York Times
October 6, 2008

Bailout Provides More Mental Health Coverage

By ROBERT PEAR

WASHINGTON — More than one-third of all Americans will soon receive better insurance coverage for mental health treatments because of a new law that, for the first time, requires equal coverage of mental and physical illnesses.

The requirement, included in the economic bailout bill that President Bush signed on Friday, is the result of 12 years of passionate advocacy by friends and relatives of people with mental illness and addiction disorders. They described the new law as a milestone in the quest for civil rights, an effort to end insurance discrimination and to reduce the stigma of mental illness. Continue reading →