Kennedy father and son disagree
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| News Archive
| Topics: insurance, parity, politics
The New York Times calls the difference between Senator Ted Kennedy and his son, Rep. Patrick Kennedy, one of pragmatism versus passion for enacting mental health insurance parity. Senate and House bills differ on parity Word play alone should not obscure variations in the bill each chamber is considering to correct well-known disparities covering people with serious mental illness. Both, the the Senate version (S. 558) sponsored by Senator Pete Dominici with 25 co-sponsors, and the House version (HR 1424) introduced by Representatives Patrick Kennedy and Jim Ramstad with 255 co-sponsors, exempt companies with fewer than 50 employees. Beyond that the bills diverge over ceilings for benefits based on state or national laws, defining items for inclusion such as substance abuse, and out-of-network costs.
