WISCONSIN UNITED
for MENTAL HEALTH

Parity Page Content

Status of Parity Legislation Wisconsin Resources General Resources Op-Eds and Letters

What is mental health parity?
“Parity” refers to the effort to treat mental health financing on the same basis as financing for general health services. In recent years advocates have repeatedly tried to expand mental health coverage—in the face of cost-containment policies that have been widespread since the 1980s. The fundamental motivation behind parity legislation is the desire to cover mental illness on the same basis as somatic illness, that is, to cover mental illness fairly. A parity mandate requires all insurers in a market to offer the same coverage, equivalent to the coverage for all other disorders.  ... evidence of the effects of parity laws shows that their costs are minimal.

The economic impact of higher medical costs and loss of productivity that accompanies untreated mental illnesses. Just consider depression: this disease affects 16% of all Americans; medical costs for people with depression average twice the cost of others; and, people with depression are seven times more like to be unemployed or underemployed.


Status of Federal Parity

On October 3, 2008 the Paul Wellstone-Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives.  Read a summary of the bill (geared towards practitioners).  Mental Health America also provides updates on mental health legislation issues at: Capitol Hill Update.


Status of Wisconsin Parity

Wisconsin Parity Act Passes in the Assembly on April 15 , 2010 with a vote of "concurrence" -- that is, they voted to concur in the action taken earlier by the full Senate to pass SB 362. Despite attempts to amend (weaken) the bill, there was virtually no debate and the vote was taken on SB 362 as it was received from the Senate. At the final count, only 2 Democrats voted against the bill (Reps. Krusick and Ziegelbauer) and 6 Republicans (Reps. Friske, Kaufert, Nerison, Al Ott, Ripp, and Townsend) voted for it.


Wisconsin specific resources:

• Utilizing Mental Health Parity to Enhance Your Bottom Line, a webinar from WorkSource Wisconsin
• Mental Health Parity - more information on parity from MHA Wisconsin

General resources:

• Parity Toolkit for Addiction & Mental Health Consumers, Providers & Advocates. Simplifying the appeals process: strategies for winning disputes with your health plan. September 2010.
• Partnership for Workplace Mental Health - A program of the American Psychiatric Association. "The Partnership works with businesses to ensure that employees and their families living with mental illness, including substance use disorders, receive effective care."
  
  • Mental Health Works Newsletter devoted to workplace mental health and parity