Achieving parity

For 12 years, mental health advocates have been lobbying for legislation that would mandate the same type of health coverage for mental illnesses as for physical ailments.

The so-called mental health parity bill attracted critics over the years, including the insurance industry. But proponents of the measure, on both sides of the aisle, kept doggedly pursuing it.

They argued that people with mental illnesses have had to deal with unfair discrimination on co-payments and hospital stays.

But the bill kept dying at the end of each Congress amid concerns about mandates and price. Despite promising signs during the 110th Congress, the mental health parity bill was headed for the heap of thousands of bills that are pursued but fall short of the president’s desk.

Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-Minn.) helped change that. Retiring members usually don’t have much leverage. Yet Ramstad proved to be the exception to the rule last week.

He initially voted against the House financial rescue plan on Monday, but then backed the revised bailout bill on Friday. Why? Because the second version included his mental health parity bill.

In a statement, Ramstad said, “[T]he revised bill is a recovery bill for the economy and a recovery bill for millions of Americans suffering the ravages of mental illness and addiction.”

For the last decade, Ramstad worked with Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) to get the bill passed through the House, while Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) worked his colleagues in the upper chamber.

During a speech on the House floor last week, Kennedy praised Dave Wellstone, the son of the late Sen. Paul Wellstone (D-Minn.), who pushed for mental health parity.

He also thanked Ramstad, a recovering alcoholic who helped Kennedy after the Rhode Island lawmaker publicly said he was dealing with depression and a dependence on painkillers.

Kennedy said, “[Ramstad] is a role model for me, both personally and professionally. This Congress could use far more members like Jim Ramstad, on both sides of the aisle. This body will miss him terribly when he retires at the end of this Congress.”

In July of 2004, Sen. Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) went to the Senate floor to press for the mental health parity bill by describing the torment of his son’s suicide the previous September.

Clearly moved by Smith’s speech, Sens. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Don Nickles (R-Okla.) said their fathers battled depression and committed suicide.

There has long been a stigma associated with mental health. Lawmakers who have told their stories and fought for this bill have helped fight that unfortunate stigma.