Congress passes legislation to end insurance discrimination

After nearly a decade of fits and starts, this week Congress has passed landmark legislation that ends insurance discrimination against mental health and substance abuse claims for more than 113 million Americans .

If enacted into law as expected, the new federal mental health parity measure would:

• Require health insurers to place mental health and substance-use-disorder benefits on a par with physical health benefits.
• Extend to all aspects of an individual's health plan, including day/visit limits, dollar limits, coinsurance, copayments, deductibles, and out-of-pocket maximums.
• Preserve strong state parity and consumer protection laws while extending parity protection to 82 million more people who cannot be protected by state laws.
• Ensure parity coverage for both in-network and out-of-network services.

"This measure stops insurance companies from setting higher co-pays or placing stricter limits on mental-health benefits," said Adrienne Hahn, a senior attorney for Consumers Union . "It will level the playing field for those suffering from mental illness and give them the same protections and coverage as those with physical ailments."

The story of Kim Witczak of Minneapolis helps illustrate how consumers have been treated by insurers when it comes to mental-health issues. After Witczak's husband committed suicide several years ago, she went through grief counseling to deal with her loss. Right before her COBRA health coverage ran out, Witczak applied for an individual health plan. She was able to get coverage, but only on the condition that she not file any counseling claims for two years.

Witczak's story was chronicled as part of Consumer Reports Health's Cover America Tour, which highlighted the difficulties Americans face getting the health care they need. Videos of Americans telling their health-care stories, including Witczak's, can be found at www.CoverAmericaTour.org.

—Bob Williams, strategic resource director, Consumers Union