[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 19]
[Senate]
[Page 25778]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




  SENATOR PAUL WELLSTONE MENTAL HEALTH EQUITABLE TREATMENT ACT OF 2003

  Mr. THOMAS. Mr. President, in memory of the anniversary over the 
weekend of the death of our friend Paul Wellstone, I rise to reiterate 
my support for the mental health parity legislation on which he worked 
tirelessly. I am a proud original cosponsor of S. 486. The Senator Paul 
Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2003, which was 
reintroduced this year by Senators Domenici and Kennedy in honor of 
Senator Paul Wellstone. This important legislation will provide people 
with a mental illness more access to treatment.
  Specifically, S. 846 prohibits a group health plan that offers mental 
health benefits from placing discriminatory caps, access limitations, 
financial requirements or other restrictions on treatment that are 
different from other medical and surgical benefits. In other words, S. 
486 treats physical and mental health equally. This bill is modeled 
after the mental health benefits provided through the Federal Employees 
Health Benefits Plan, but provides a special exemption for small 
employers from such requirements.
  I have long advocated on behalf of our Nation's rural health care 
delivery system and mental health parity is a key step to increasing 
access to mental health services in rural areas. The Domenici-Kennedy 
bill is crucial to rural America because suicide rates among rural 
residents are twice the rate of urban areas, and 75 percent of the 518 
nationally designated Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas are 
located in rural areas.
  The Senator Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 
2003 must be passed by Congress as soon as possible, and I urge all my 
colleagues to work toward its enactment.

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