What the Mental-Health Parity Act would do

According to information provided by U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici’s office, these are the major provisions of the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Act of 2008. The bill is part of the economic bailout bill passed by the Senate this week and expected to be voted on by the House today.

• Provides mental health parity for about 113 million Americans who work for employers with 50 or more employees.

• Ensures the 98 percent of businesses that provide a mental health benefit do so in a manner that is no more restrictive than the coverage of medical and surgical benefits.

• Ensures health plans do not place more restrictive conditions on mental health coverage than on medical and surgical coverage.

• Parity for financial requirements like deductibles, co-payments, out-of-pocket expenses and annual and lifetime limits.

• Parity for treatment limitations: the number of covered hospital days and out-patient visits.

• Provides out-of-network parity for mental health coverage if a plan provides out-of-network coverage for medical and surgical benefits.

• Provides a small-employer exemption for companies with fewer than 50 employees.

• Provides a cost exemption to all covered employees.