The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives both passed consensus versions
of the addiction and mental-health parity bill on Sept. 23, a historic vote that brings
the goal of equal coverage for behavioral-health problems closer to reality than
ever before. While tantalizingly close to final passage, however, the recently renamed
Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act
still faces several significant procedural hurdles before it can be sent to
President Bush for his expected approval (the administration this week issued a
statement supporting parity).
Six years
after his father died in a plane crash, David Wellstone is on the cusp of seeing
passage of an initiative that would be the late Sen. Paul Wellstone's legacy. The House and
Senate each passed versions of the Wellstone-Domenici legislation, which would
require private insurers to provide the same level of benefits for treatment of
mental illness as they do for physical maladies.
The son of the late Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone made a big push Wednesday for
mental health insurance long championed by his father, leading a call-in effort
urging Congress to take up the legislation before its August
recess.
Imagine this scenario: To control costs, a giant health insurer
announces that it's singling out heart disease patients. From now on,
it will charge them higher co-pays and put lifetime limits on the
number of times they can see a doctor for their condition. The ensuing outrage would be loud and vitriolic. And rightfully so.
It's wrong to target one group of patients.
The progressive movement has prided itself on its ability to get its
messages out by harnessing the Internet, but now a liberal-minded group is returning to an old-fashioned model: a book club.
Bringing training to these targeted regions will create a corps of skilled organizers and candidates, and seed
progressive campaigns with the talent they need to win big in November.
Frustrated by a state law telling him he wasn't old enough to give back to his community by donating blood, Joe Gibson, a sophomore at Blooming Prairie High School, decided to do something to change it.
