Mental Health Parity Bill Passes House
by Christine Stuart | May 5, 2008 11:12 PM
Posted to Health Care
The House passed a bill along party lines that calls for mental illness to be treated the same as physical illness under Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell’s Charter Oak Health Plan for uninsured adults in the state. The Charter Oak Health Plan was passed last year by the legislature and is expected to be offered July 1 to any uninsured resident in the state.
The bill, which Rell has promised to veto, passed by a vote of 104 to 44, but only after Republican lawmakers made their first attempt to attach their budget proposal to it.
Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero, R-Norwalk, vowed to try and amend any bill possible with the Republican budget proposal that includes an early retirement plan for 4,200 state employees. Cafero said the retirement program could save the state $163 million, but Rell and Democratic leaders disagree.
With regard to the state budget, Rell sent leaders in both parties a letter Monday reminding them that she will veto any bills with a fiscal impact. “Finally, I must caution that I will disapprove any bill that comes to my desk with a fiscal impact that has not been addressed in the manner described above. It would be fiscally irresponsible of me to do otherwise,” Rell wrote.
Click here to read her letter and see the number of bills already passed by at least one chamber that may need to be revised.
Comments (2)
Posted by: pbarber | May 6, 2008 12:45 PM
A physical illness can be objectively diagnosed and treated. Hence there is very little room for manipulation. A "mental illness" on the other hand, is an ambiguous disease by nature and has the potential for real run off spending and general abuse during a time when we need to be doing the exact opposite. Mental illnesses are a legitimate concern, but there is a very real difference between treating someone for Alzheimer's disease and treating someone for ADD (attention deficit disorder). Obviously our legislature would never allow for state resources to be allocated to treating a "disease" as trivial as ADD, but this hyperbole helps paint the picture.
Posted by: bLaman | May 6, 2008 8:11 PM
A mental illness is not trivial. There are many families under extreme financial stress because of poor or no coverage for mental illness. What about chronic conditions like autism and schizophrenia? Are these conditions trivial? As a parent of a child with autism, I could use some help in paying for extensive costs of medication that my child will need for life. I also have no problem with covering ADD. I teach in a school and I have seen how important it is to treat this condition. Medicated children are far more available to learn when they have this condition.