[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 175 (Monday, December 8, 2003)]
[House]
[Pages H12863-H12864]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[[Page H12863]]
            MENTAL HEALTH PARITY REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2003

  Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to 
take from the Speaker's table the Senate bill (S. 1929) to amend the 
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Public Health 
Service Act to extend the mental health benefits parity provisions for 
an additional year, and ask for its immediate consideration in the 
House.
  The Clerk read the title of the Senate bill.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Renzi). Is there objection to the 
request of the gentleman from Texas?
  Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, reserving the right to object, although I do 
not intend to object, but I respectfully ask the gentleman to explain 
his request, and I yield to him for that purpose.
  Mr. SAM JOHNSON of Texas. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman for 
yielding.
  I am pleased to be here to manage House passage of S. 1929, the 
Mental Health Parity Reauthorization Act of 2003. As chairman of the 
Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations with jurisdiction over 
employer-provided health care, the issue of mental health parity falls 
within the purview of this subcommittee. In fact, almost 2 years ago, 
we held the first House hearing on the issue of mental health.
  In 1996, Congress enacted the Mental Health Parity Act to prevent 
employers and health insurers from establishing annual and lifetime 
limits on health insurance coverage for mental health benefits, unless 
similar limits were also established for medical and surgical health 
coverage. Today, the House will take an important step to extend mental 
health parity benefits for another year by passing this bipartisan 
reauthorization legislation, which will be ready for President Bush's 
signature once we pass it.
  Over the past 7 years, the parity law has made significant 
improvements in mental health coverage. It has done so by striking a 
good balance, providing important mental health benefits to patients 
without placing unworkable mandates on employers. The legislation we 
pass today will preserve current law mental health parity benefits for 
another year, through December 31, 2004.

                              {time}  1715

  Mental health parity benefits offered through the Employee Retirement 
Income Security Act, ERISA, and Public Health Services Act, were set to 
expire this December 31. In the coming year, my subcommittee will 
continue to examine the issue of mental health parity, as expanding 
this law is one of the many substantive changes proposed for our 
Nation's health care system.
  Before endorsing any changes to current law, the House must carefully 
study the issue and consequences it may have on our Nation's employer-
provided health care system. Any changes to the mental health parity 
law must be made in a balanced manner that does not jeopardize workers' 
existing health care benefits or discourage employers from voluntarily 
providing quality benefits to their employees. Because, as we all know, 
when employers' costs go up, workers often lose coverage. If the 
expanded mental health parity law is too burdensome and expensive, it 
is very likely employers will simply stop offering any type of mental 
health coverage.
  Health insurance costs rose by 15 percent, the highest increase in a 
decade. In this environment, it is incumbent upon the Congress to 
carefully study the impact of new mandates before moving forward. 
However, reauthorization of the 1996 act is an important step to ensure 
that patients continue to have access to mental health care if they 
need it. Because of this, I am pleased to offer my strong support to S. 
1929. I urge my colleagues to support this important bill.
  Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, I thank the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sam 
Johnson) for his explanation. And continuing under my reservation, I 
rise in strong support of S. 1929, which extends the Mental Health 
Parity Act of 1996 for another year.
  The original bill was pioneered and introduced by a great champion of 
mental health, a person of compassion and vision, the late Senator Paul 
Wellstone.
  This legislation is based on a very simple idea: all health insurance 
plans should provide the same degree of coverage for mental health 
benefits as provided for medical and surgical benefits. The 1996 act 
did not require employers to offer mental health benefits; but it was, 
nevertheless, a huge step forward in the fight to ensure access for all 
Americans to comprehensive health care. Under the 1996 act, if mental 
health care benefits are provided, they have to be equal to those 
offered for medical care.
  In particular, both aggregate lifetime caps and annual caps on mental 
health benefits had to be equal to those caps for the medical and 
surgical benefits, but if, and only if, the employer offered mental 
health benefits.
  The 1996 act applies to both fully insured state-regulated health 
plans and self-insured plans. The act does not preempt State statutes 
that may provide stronger protections for mental health parity.
  The 1996 act did not provide a complete parity. Employers and 
insurers can still restrict mental health benefits by imposing higher 
copayments and deductibles for mental health benefits than for medical 
benefits. There remains much room for improvement. We need to expand 
mental health parity to cover substance abuse disorders, to stop 
employers from charging different deductibles and co-payments to mental 
health services, and to stop employers from imposing different limits 
for inpatient stays and outpatient visits for mental health benefits. 
Much work remains to be done; but without this action today, the Mental 
Health Parity Act will expire on December 31.
  I urge my colleagues to support this reauthorization of the Mental 
Health Parity Act, extend these provisions for at least another year; 
and I urge us to all redouble our efforts to pass comprehensive mental 
health care parity in the coming year.
  Mr. Speaker, further reserving the right to object, I yield to the 
gentlewoman from Texas (Ms. Jackson-Lee).
  Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, continuing the objection, I do 
not intend to maintain my objection. I thank the distinguished 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Owens), and I thank the distinguished 
gentleman from Texas (Mr. Sam Johnson). I simply want to add my support 
to what we are doing here today.
  I come from Texas; but I know all of our colleagues, wherever they 
come from, realize that the lack of mental health services and 
intervention services is really a silent killer. The fact that we are 
extending the mental health benefits and the mental health parity 
provision is extremely important to those families who live in silence, 
suffering, a loved one with mental illness in need of mental health 
services or the individual themselves.
  And I will simply say that we can do no less than to pay tribute to 
our fallen colleague, Senator Paul Wellstone, who lived his legislative 
career around the ideas of providing more legislative assistance in 
creating mental health parity. I hope that we will work in the next 
year for a comprehensive mental health parity package for all of 
America.
  Let me just simply say on behalf of the work of the Mental Health 
Association, let me thank them for pressing the point about these 
needs. I would hope, Mr. Speaker, that as we support this particular 
legislation today, it will give us enough momentum and enough 
inspiration to realize that these individuals with broken lives cannot 
survive without our assistance and without intervention and mental 
health services.
  Mr. Speaker, I do not intend to object, and I yield back to the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Owens), removing my objection.
  Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, I withdraw my reservation of objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Renzi). Is there objection to the 
request of the gentleman from Texas?
  There was no objection.
  The Clerk read the Senate bill, as follows:

                                S. 1929

       Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
     the United States of America in Congress assembled,

     SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

       This Act may be cited as the ``Mental Health Parity 
     Reauthorization Act of 2003''.

     SEC. 2. EXTENSION OF MENTAL HEALTH PROVISIONS.

       (a) ERISA.--Section 712(f) of the Employee Retirement 
     Income Security Act of 1974 (29

[[Page H12864]]

     U.S.C. 1185a(f)) is amended by striking ``December 31, 2003'' 
     and inserting ``December 31, 2004''.
       (b) PHSA.--Section 2705(f) of the Public Health Service Act 
     (42 U.S.C. 300gg-5(f)) is amended by striking ``December 31, 
     2003'' and inserting ``December 31, 2004''.

  The Senate bill was ordered to be read a third time, was read the 
third time, and passed, and a motion to reconsider was laid on the 
table.

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