Congratulations to The House for the passing of this bill.
The House has just passed H.R. 1424, the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act by a vote of 268-148. This bipartisan legislation will end discrimination against patients seeking treatment for mental illnesses by prohibiting insurers and group health plans from imposing treatment or financial limitations when they offer mental health benefits that are more restrictive from those applied to medical and surgical services.
Pelosi: "This legislation will be especially relevant for our returning veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan who later become employed in the private sector. This will be potentially lifesaving for those brave men and women who served in the National Guard and Reserves, but who don’t receive VA care for their entire lives.”
It seems like the people that might need this assistance the most are against it.
Although FRC doesn't fully support the Senate bill, it does not mandate (as the House version does) that employers offer coverage to people who need therapy because of their extreme sexual lifestyle. We will continue to fight for the inclusion of a conscience clause, which would exempt businesses who find the long list of mental "illnesses" morally objectionable. Without an exemption, there's a real danger that mental health treatment could be used as a loophole to provide coverage for abortion. For these reasons, FRC encourages you to contact your leaders and urge them to protect employers' rights.
You know once they push for exemptions, a lot of people will get excluded. Why--oh--why do they hate the troops so?
