Mental health parity proposed in Wisconsin

MADISON (WPR) More employers would be required to offer insurance coverage for mental health treatment under a plan state lawmakers are considering.

The proposal would expand a federal law signed last year that created what's known as "mental health parity" on a national scale.  "Parity" basically means covering treatment for a mental disorder the same as something like a heart problem.

That federal law excluded businesses with fewer than 50 employees.  Milwaukee Assembly Democrat Sandy Pasch says her plan would close that gap, so that all employers who offer insurance are covering mental illnesses. She says mental health problems are “not a life choice, a moral weakness or a character flaw.” Pasch says mental illness can’t be willed away just as heart attacks or diabetes can’t be willed away.

But Bill Smith with the Wisconsin chapter of the National Federation of Independent Businesses says Congress got it right when they excluded small businesses from the parity law.  Smith says this state proposal would force small businesses to either cut back on other coverage, raise premiums, or cut salaries. He says the legislation may improve the quality of health care for a few, but the real impact is higher health insurance costs for small business.

The plan has mostly Democratic sponsors.  Similar legislation has been introduced in the past, but not with the full legislature and governor's office under Democratic control.

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Information from Wisconsin Public Radio, www.wpr.org