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opinion:
our view
Bush
seeks insurance parity
President Bush appeared before mental health professionals
Monday in Albuquerque and showed support for any legislation
giving the same health insurance benefits to patients suffering
mental illness as to those suffering physical ailments.
Bush did not show support for any specific bill, but his speech
showed a willingness to work with lawmakers on measures that
would broaden insurance coverage for people diagnosed with
the most serious mental illnesses including major depression,
bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Although most HMOs strongly oppose a change, citing higher
health-care costs, Bush said such legislation should "not
significantly run up the cost of health care."
According to a 1999 report by the surgeon general, nearly
50 million Americans suffer from mental illness each year
but less than half seek treatment.
Health insurance companies have far too long kept serious
mental illnesses out of their coverage. With such a large
amount of people suffering from some form of mental illness,
it is imperative that changes be made. It is commendable that
Bush is showing support for legislation that would make these
changes.
Senators Pete V. Domenici, R-N.M., and Paul Wellstone, D-Minn.,
are leading the push for an insurance parity bill. Their measure
applies only to plans that already offer mental health coverage
and would not require any employer or group health insurance
plan to cover mental health care.
Their measure is a diagonal step near the right direction
but just not enough. Congress must follow the president's
lead and craft legislation that would make a meaningful impact
on the coverage of mental illness by health insurers.
Mental illness seems to be a steadily increasing problem in
the United States and many of the people who suffer from the
worst types of mental illness are left to fend for themselves
or pay unbelievable costs to receive the proper care.
Many lawmakers seem to think that we should wait until a mentally
ill person commits a crime so we could then lock them into
an institution where they won't be a threat to society. This
is the wrong approach.
We must embrace the mentally ill as the suffering people they
are and give them the help they need. Health care in general
in the United States has become a vicious circle in which
only the super-rich or super-insured can receive all the health
care that they need.
Many mentally ill people do not have anywhere near the means
to get the proper health care. Both insurance companies and
lawmakers need to step in and assist them in receiving proper
care.
President Bush has stepped into the mental health care debate;
hopefully now some real action will take place.
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