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Legislative ReportA Call to Action - May 2008Please always feel free to call me Debbie Russell 281-910-2001 to discuss items you would like to have included in this portion of the newsletter and or email me. Below you will see a bill that has 17 Democratic sponsors and 2 Republican …that of course could be a red flag. Perhaps in addition to our own states we could enlist our friends from other states where these sponsors represent and ask our friends to make the phone call or send the letter to the sponsoring representative regarding the particular bill. 'A concurrent resolution expressing the sense of Congress that an artistic tribute to commemorate the speech given by President Ronald Reagan at the Brandenburg Gate on June 12, 1987, should be placed within the United States Capitol.' Bill # S.CON.RES.1 'A concurrent resolution expressing the bipartisan resolution on Iraq’ Bill # S.CON.RES.2 'A concurrent resolution expressing the sense of Congress that it is the goal of the United States that, not later than January 1, 2025, the agricultural, forestry, and working land of the United States should provide from renewable resources not less than 25 percent of the total energy consumed in the United States and continue to produce safe, abundant, and affordable food, feed, and fiber.’ Bill # S.CON.RES.3 Submitted by: Debbie Russell, Legislative Chairman Mental Health Parity Bill at the Federal Level - April 2008The House of Representatives last week cleared its version of the parity legislation on a 268-148 vote. That action, following last year's Senate passage of a more limited parity measure, sets the stage for a conference committee to try to work out the differences between the two bills. The Bush administration last week formally threw its support to the Senate parity bill, saying the measure strikes the right balance of expanding coverage without significantly increasing health care costs. By contrast, the administration said the House bill would have a "negative effect" on the availability and affordability of employer-provided coverage. The timing and co-sponsors of the two bills are very interesting. Several groups who have never supported mental health parity are now behind the current Senate bill. There are several key areas where the two bills agree and differ. Of course, if each side passes their own version, the differences will be worked out in committee. If enacted into law, the final bill may look different than either bill currently on its own. There are two items in the House bill that need to be excluded in any compromise:
The goal of parity should be to insure the greatest number of employees and dependents receive appropriate behavioral health services. To that end, self-funded employers need the ability to design their health plans whereby they determine covered behavioral health conditions. Also, they need to be able to restrict covered benefits to in-network providers. The Senate bill certainly leans more in that direction. The broad mandates in the House bill would only cause some employers to drop mental health coverage as a way to comply with the law, which would lead to fewer people receiving appropriate mental health services, resulting in an increase in overall healthcare costs. The biggest problem relating to mental health treatment in this country today is we already have 80 percent or more of patients with mental health issues seeking their treatment in the general medical setting (an 18 month study by Medco of 84,500 patients who acquired a prescription for an antidepressant reported that only 17 percent were seen by a mental health professional). This shift to the general medical setting has created an explosion in the prescribing of psychotropic drugs since 1990. A study published in the Wall Street Journal regarding the cost of treatment for depression in this country over the past decade (1990 to 2000) reported that prescription drug costs to treat depression increased by 452 percent. The Center for Disease Control in Atlanta just released prescription drug data for the year 2005; antidepressants were the number one class of drugs prescribed in this country – 118 million prescriptions. Information obtained from: The September, 2007 issue of "The Benefit", the official publication of the Texas Association of Benefit Administrators Fred Newman, CEO, Interface EAP, Inc. The March, 2008 issue of “Business Insurance” Submitted by: Debbie Russell, Legislative Chairman
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