CQ's Carey Discusses Mental Health Parity Bill, FY 2009 Budget, MA Plan Marketing Abuses

Main Category: Public Health
Also Included In: Mental Health;  Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 12 Feb 2008 - 9:00 PDT

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Mary Agnes Carey, associate editor of CQ HealthBeat, examines House action on mental health parity, President Bush's threat to veto any spending bills that exceed amounts in his fiscal year 2009 budget proposal and a Senate Finance Committee hearing about marketing abuses in Medicare Advantage plans in this week's "Health on the Hill from kaisernetwork.org and CQ."

According to Carey, the House approved a one-year extension of a mental health parity law that would ban health plans from establishing different lifetime or annual dollar limits for mental health services than those imposed for other illnesses. The measure also includes a provision that would allow the government to withhold Medicare payments to physicians and hospitals that owe back taxes. A broader mental health parity bill is pending in the House that would require plans offering mental health benefits to make them equal in costs and scope to medical and surgical benefits, according to Carey. That bill would also require insurers to cover certain mental conditions. Five House committees have approved the measure, but it has not been scheduled for floor action.

Carey also discusses Bush's intent to veto any spending bills that exceed the amounts in his FY 2009 budget, which includes $200 billion cuts to Medicare and Medicaid over the next five years. Democrats have opposed the proposed cuts, arguing that they would have negative effects on the uninsured, the elderly and others who are most in need of health services. However, HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said the cuts are necessary to keep federal health care programs financially secure.

Finally, Carey says witnesses at a second hearing on MA marketing practices said that despite previous actions by CMS and the insurance industry to address questionable marketing tactics among some plans, problems remain, including the practice of pressuring beneficiaries to enroll in plans that are inappropriate or unsuitable for them. While there is legislation pending in Congress that would give the National Association of Insurance Commissioners the ability to develop national, state-enforced standards regarding MA and to regulate the plans, Carey says CMS likely will oppose the bill (Carey, "Health on the Hill from kaisernetwork.org and CQ," 2/11).

The complete audio version of "Health on the Hill," transcript and resources for further research are available online at kaisernetwork.org.

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

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