With the deadline for completing federal parity rules barely two weeks away, Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) writes that "critical care may be hindered or delayed" if the law is enacted without them. The Paul Wellstone-Pete Domenici Mental Heatlh Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 -- shorthand "parity" -- 12 years in the making, is scheduled to go into effect in January 2010. As of now, it is unclear whether the specific rules governing the law's intention of ending discrimination will be in place.
In a letter to the secretaries of Health and Human Services, Treasury, and Labor, Kennedy reminds officials that more than 400 comments were filed, and that consumers, families and other stakeholders attended numerous hearings. Business and insurance proposals to allow different deductible caps, one for medical/surgical and another for mental health, is a barrier to treatment, he says. Advocacy organizations are mounting campaigns asking citizens to contact their elected representatives. "Regulations are critical to avoid misrepresentatiion of the law," writes the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law.
