Thursday, July 21, 2005

House to Consider Association Health Plan Legislation; Proposal Would Weaken State Mental Illness Insurance Parity Laws NAMI alert - "Later this week the U.S. House of Representatives will consider legislation to vastly expand multi-employer Association Health Plans (AHPs) and undermine existing state laws that require health plans to cover treatment for mental illness on the same terms and conditions as all other illnesses – commonly referred to as parity. This proposal (HR 525) would significantly expand the scope of a federal law (known as ERISA), that exempts self-insured employer health plans from state regulation. By expanding ERISA, HR 525 would encourage employers that currently offer health plans for their workers (and their families) to switch away from coverage that meets a parity standard, i.e. plans that cover mental illnesses the same as all other illnesses."