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The just completed Congressional session failed to produce a range of popular bills that had broad bipartisan support in both the House and Senate. The mental illness parity bill (S 543/HR 4066) was part of a long list of popular bills that were not acted on during last year's congressional session. Parity will have to be reintroduced in the new congressional session.

During the 107th Congress (2001 and 2002) few bills matched the record of accomplishment of the mental illness parity measure:

vocal support from President Bush,
67 Senate cosponsors (over two-thirds of the Senate), and
43 House cosponsors (over half the House).

The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) is especially grateful to the key leaders in Congress that pushed so hard for action on parity last year: the late Senator Paul Wellstone (D-MN), Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Representatives Marge Roukema (R-NJ) and Patrick Kennedy (D-RI). NAMI is also grateful for President Bush's public support for action on federal parity legislation. Despite this broad bipartisan support for parity, there are still pockets of important opposition to parity (mainly from employer and insurance groups) that must be overcome.

NAMI urges you to call your Congressional representatives to make passage of parity legislation a top priority in 2003. Please remind members of Congress that:

President Bush supports passage of federal parity legislation to end insurance discrimination;
untreated mental illness costs American businesses, government and families at least $113 billion annually in lost productivity and social costs;
mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder and severe anxiety disorders are real illnesses;
treatment for mental illness works and recovery is possible (treatment efficacy rates for the most severe mental illnesses exceed those for heart disease and diabetes);
there is simply no scientific or medical justification for insurance coverage of mental illness treatment to be on different terms and conditions than other diseases;
discriminatory insurance coverage of mental illness bankrupts families and places a tremendous burden on taxpayers through suicide, homelessness and inappropriate "criminalization" of people with mental illness;
parity is affordable - the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that the current proposal before Congress would increase insurance premiums by less than 1%; and
34 states have enacted parity laws

1996 Parity Law Extended

On November 15, both the House and Senate cleared legislation (HR 5716) extending the 1996 federal Mental Health Parity Act for an additional year-through December 31, 2003. The 1996 law requires only for annual and lifetime dollar limits and is therefore far more limited than protections in S 543/HR 4066 that requires parity for all treatment limitations (both inpatient and outpatient), cost sharing, deductibles and other financial limitations that apply only to mental illness treatment. In December 2002, President Bush signed HR 5716 into law.

"Our Lady of Peace Act" Stalled in Senate

In the days leading up to final adjournment, supporters of the "Our Lady of Peace Act" (HR 4757/S 2826) did not make an attempt to revive the legislation and pass it through the Senate by "unanimous consent." NAMI had been keeping a close watch on efforts to expedite passage of HR 4757/S 2826 in the Senate and clear the bill for the President's signature. The House had previously passed the bill on October 16 without dissent. The "Our Lady of Peace Act" would authorize federal funding to ensure that states and localities report the names of individuals "adjudicated as mentally defective" with the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check system (NICS).

During consideration of HR 4757/S 2826, NAMI expressed concern that the legislation as drafted contained overly broad language with respect to the categories of individuals whose names would be reported to the NICS and significant potential to reinforce stigma and compromise the privacy of individuals with mental illnesses.

Additional background on HR 4757/S 2826 is available at: http://www.nami.org/update/20021026.html or http://www.nami.org/update/20021004.html