New MHA Resource Explains Federal, State Parity Laws

After many years of hard work parity is now the law of the land at both the federal and state level in Wisconsin. But in order for people living with mental illnesses and addiction disorders to receive the full benefits of the laws, the laws must be implemented as envisioned by Congress and the Wisconsin State Legislature. This requires that consumers, family members, advocates and providers all understand what the laws require and what to do if you think they are not being implemented correctly.

A new Web page by Mental Health America of Wisconsin provides information about the state and federal laws, how they interact, consumer rights and expectations under the law and what to do if you think someone is not receiving the services to which they are entitled. Mental Health America of Wisconsin also has a section on resources for employers on implementing parity in their health plans.

Governor Doyle Signs Parity Act Into Law, April 29

On April 29, Governor Doyle signed the Wisconsin Parity Act into law during a signing ceremony at the State Capitol. On April 15 the Wisconsin Parity Act passed the Wisconsin Assembly by a 57-40 vote with strong bi-partisan support.

Some images from the signing ceremony (click on each photo for a larger view):

Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) and Rep. Sandy Pasch (D-Whitefish Bay).
Gov. Jim Doyle signs the Wisconsin Parity Act into law.
Sen. Dave Hansen (right) greets Gov. Jim Doyle.
Gov. Jim Doyle signs the Wisconsin Parity Act into law.
Mark Fossie, M&S Clinical Services (left) and Sen. Dave Hansen.
Advocate Joanne Grassman and Shel Gross, Mental Health America of Wisconsin.

“It is about time that we recognize treating mental illnesses and substance abuse is the right thing to do,” said Rep. Pasch (D-Whitefish Bay), a psychiatric nurse and one of the bill's sponsors. “I am glad the Assembly took a strong stand in favor of this important proposal on behalf of individuals living with mental health and substance use disorders across the state.”

Read Rep. Pasch's news release here.

Recent media:

The Wisconsin Parity Act Closes Gaps in Federal Law

    Several local experts and advocates have provided support on behalf of the legislation, including Joanne Grassman (pictured left with her daughter, Leslie Osman, who suffers from anorexia, a disease most health insurance policies traditionally have not covered [photo courtesy the Capital Times]).

The Wisconsin Parity Act is an important bill that will provide equitable mental health and substance use disorder treatment benefits for many of the 700,000 Wisconsin residents left uncovered by the federal Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008, P.L. 110-343, which does not protect insured individuals who work in businesses with 50 or fewer employees.

The Wisconsin Parity Act will require most group health plans in Wisconsin to provide mental health and substance use disorder benefits at parity levels. This new law will increase treatment for hundreds of thousands of people in Wisconsin, saving lives and lowering costs.

Read more here.

The Wisconsin Parity Act Recognizes the Concerns of Small Businesses

An amendment to the bill allows employers with fewer than 10 employees to opt out of the parity provision. The amendment also permits larger employers who can show that parity has increased their insurance costs by two percent to opt out as well.

Wisconsin’s small businesses cannot afford the costs of untreated mental illness and substance use disorder. For a minimal investment, parity will save billions of dollars in reduced sick days, increased worker productivity and decreased health care costs.

The Wisconsin Parity Act will NOT lead to a substantial increase in premium costs. A March 4, 2008 study by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) of the law that became the Wellstone-Domenici Act—the most recent, authoritative, independent, expert analysis of parity’s economic impact on private-sector employers—found that parity would increase costs by less than one half of one percent of premium.

Several states have successfully enacted parity legislation! Those states have not seen significant increases in premiums and no significant increase in the number of businesses that have discontinued employee health coverage. In addition, businesses that offer health plans that include mental health and addiction coverage have experienced reductions in absenteeism, turnover and disability costs while at the same time showing increases in productivity.

Oregon Plan Finds Mental Health / Substance Use Disorder Treatment Highly Cost Effective Compared to Treatments for Other Medical Conditions

The Oregon Health Services Commission has ranked medical services for 680 conditions to show which are the most clinically effective and cost effective. Every year when the Oregon Legislature decides how much money to allocate for the health plan, analysts go down the list and decide how many of the conditions they can cover. Starting Oct. 1, 2009 they cover 503 of the 680 conditions.

Both medical / psychotherapy for use disorder or dependence of psychoactive substance (line number 5) and medical / psychotherapy for major depression, recurrent (line number 9) ranked ahead of medical therapies for type I diabetes (10), asthma (11) and hypertension (12). Medical psychotherapy for schizophrenic disorders (27) and treatment for bipolar disorders (32) are well above the cut line, and came in ahead of treatment epilepsy (36), rheumatoid arthritis (52), and acute and subacute ischemic heart disease, myocardial infarction.

Given what we know about the cost effectiveness of treatments for mental health and substance use disorders, why wouldn't we want them to be covered in a manner no more restrictive than the coverage for other conditions?

Webinar: Utilizing Mental Health Parity to Enhance Your Bottom Line

Featuring Jerry Halverson M.D., UW-Madison School of Psychiatry; and Jeff Kluever, Director of Risk Management, Journal Communications.

Kluever discusses Journal Communications' move to parity, and its findings that mental health / substance use disorder parity can help reduce employer costs. Watch here.

Successful Employer Implementation of the Federal Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act

A publication of the Partnership for Workplace Mental Health, a program of the American Psychiatric Foundation. PDF

Pasch Op-Ed: Mental health parity needed

We would never consider other types of "carve-outs" for physical health conditions, such as cardiac and pulmonary diseases, diabetes or orthopedic problems. We provide treatment for these illnesses because not doing so leaves people in pain, unable to function, to work and care for their families. However, many continue to perceive, and dismiss, mental illness and substance use as character flaws. This is reflected through the appalling lack of insurance coverage for treatment.

. . .

The U.S. surgeon general reported that the indirect costs of mental illness imposed an estimated $79 billion loss on the U.S. economy in 1990. The costs to business of absenteeism, lost productivity and disability and unemployed insurance claims due to mental illness and addiction outweigh any costs associated with mental health and substance use treatment. Findings in the medical community note that untreated depression increases the costs and decreases the rates of recovery from heart disease, strokes, diabetes and other illnesses.

Read the full Op-Ed in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (PDF).

  • Route 51: "Suicide Rate Increase", featuring Dr. Edward Krall, psychiatrist with the Marshfield Clinic Behavioral Health Dept. who appeared on the Making Parity Real: Wausau panel, March 5
    WLBL-FM Wausau (March 4)

  • Statement by Rep. Sandy Pasch (D-Whitefish Bay) on the Senate's passing of the Wisconsin Parity Act (Jan. 28) PDF

  • Statement by Sen. Fred Risser (D-Madison) on the Senate's passing of the Wisconsin Parity Act (Jan. 28) PDF

The Wisconsin Parity Act Briefing Book Includes:

  • The costs and effects of untreated mental illness and substance use disorders; and the many benefits of mental health and substance use disorder parity, for employers, for workers, for the bottom line.

  • Frequently asked questions.
  • The bill's legislative history, fiscal notes and analysis, and Legislative Council Memos.

Download the Briefing Book here
(6 MB).

What Is the Wisconsin Parity Act?

The Wisconsin Parity Act is an important bill that will require group health plans in Wisconsin to
provide mental health and substance use disorder benefits at parity levels, equal to those benefits for medical surgical procedures. Read more on parity here.

This new law will provide immediate mental health and substance use disorder insurance benefits at parity levels for 200,000 currently insured employees of Wisconsin’s small businesses—as well as their spouses and dependent children.

Learn more from our fact sheets.

Bill Status

  • On April 15 the Wisconsin Parity Act (Senate Amendment 1 to SB-362) passed the Assembly in a 57-40 vote with strong bi-partisan support.
  • The Wisconsin Senate passed the Wisconsin Parity Act (SB-362) Thursday, Jan. 28 in a 20-13, bi-partisan vote.
  • The Assembly will likely vote on the Wisconsin Parity Act (AB-512) before close of the legislative session in the spring.
  • On Dec. 17 , 2009 the Assembly Committee on Health and Healthcare Reform approved the Wisconsin Parity Act in an 8-5 vote.
  • On Dec. 22, 2009 the Senate Committee on Health, Health Insurance, Privacy, Property Tax Relief, and Revenue approved the Wisconsin Parity Act in a 5-2, bi-partisan vote. The Senate's vote marked the first time that a parity bill has passed through committees in both houses of the Wisconsin Legislature.

Support for the Wisconsin Parity Act

  • Phil Neuenfeldt, Secretary-Treasurer, Wisconsin State
    AFL-CIO
    • Wisconsin Parity Act, Senate Amendment 1 to SB-362 (April 14) PDF
    • Substitute Amendment 1 to SB-362 (Feb. 10) PDF
    • SB-362 (Jan. 28) PDF
  • Wisconsin Council on Mental Health PDF
  • Joy Mead-Meucci, Director of Behavioral Health Services, Aurora Health Care PDF
  • David Riemer, Community Advocates Public Policy Institute PDF
  • Shel Gross, Mental Health America of Wisconsin PDF
  • Rich Brown, The Wisconsin Initiative to Promote Healthy Lifestyles (WIPHL) PDF
  • Marc Herstand, National Association of Social Workers, Wisconsin Chapter PDF
  • See a list of New Day Coalition members that support parity for Wisconsin.
  • See which Wisconsin organizations have registered their support -- or opposition -- to the bills here (bill numbers are 512 in the Assembly and 362 in the Senate).

Opposition to the Wisconsin Parity Act

  • Bill G. Smith, NFIB (April 14) PDF
  • R.J. Pirlot, Director, Legislative Relations, WMC;
    Bill Smith, State Director, NFIB (April 14) PDF
  • Wisconsin Association of Health Plans (April 12) PDF
  • R.J. Pirlot, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce PDF

Letters from the New Day Coalition:

  • April 14: The New Day Coalition respectfully requests that members of the Assembly vote to pass the Wisconsin Parity Act without further amendments. PDF
  • Feb. 17: Business and Labor Support the Wisconsin Parity Act. Includes case studies of parity implmentation by Journal Communications, Inc. and KI. PDF
  • Feb. 12: The Wisconsin Parity Act Supports Wisconsin’s Children PDF
  • Feb. 11: The Wisconsin Parity Act Is a Pro-Jobs Bill PDF

What is Parity?

"Parity" is the treatment of substance use disorder and mental illness in insurance benefits that are no more restrictive than benefits for medical and physical conditions. In other words, benefits can not be offered with artificial and arbitrary limits on services, or arbitrary or artificial copays, deductibles, and co-insurance caps.

Currently, Wisconsin statutes require that all commercial group health insurance plans provide a minimum of $7,000 per year in mental health and substance use disorder coverage. In many plans this has become the maximum. This level of coverage was created in 1985. At that time it provided 30 days of inpatient hospital care. Today that same amount of money provides only a few days of care.

The Bills

Fact Sheets

  • Closing the Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Insurance Parity Gap PDF
  • Addiction and Mental Illness Are Chronic Diseases That Are Effectively Treated PDF
  • Support for Addiction / Mental Health Treatment in Wisconsin PDF
  • Cost to Businesses of Not Treating Mental Illness and Addiction PDF
  • Parity Will Save Money and Improve Health PDF
  • Summary of Provisions of the Wisconsin Mental Health and Substance Abuse Parity Act PDF
  • The Wisconsin Parity Act is A Pro-Jobs Bill PDF
  • SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment), a cost-effective, evidence-based approach to save lives, improve outcomes and reduce costs PDF
  • Feb. 17 general fact sheet on the Wisconsin Parity Act PDF
  • Updates on the Wisconsin
    Parity Act     PDF
  • National High School Center fact sheet on the impact of untreated mental illness and addiction on schoolchildren PDF

The Wisconsin Parity Act is a Pro-Jobs Bill!

  • Fact Sheet PDF
  • Letters to Assembly
    • Feb. 17: Business and Labor Support the Wisconsin Parity Act. Includes case studies of parity implmentation by Journal Communications, Inc. and KI. PDF
    • Feb. 11 The Wisconsin Parity Act Is a Pro-Jobs Bill PDF

Action Alerts

  • April 9—Contact your Representative TODAY and tell him or her to vote to pass the Wisconsin Parity Act without further amendmens.
  • Feb. 25—Contact your Representative TODAY and tell him or her to vote to pass the Wisconsin Parity Act PDF
  • Feb. 8—Contact Your Representative to Vote to Pass the Wisconsin Parity Act (Senate Substitute Amendment 1 to SB-362) PDF
  • Jan. 27—Full Senate to Vote on Wisconsin Parity Act (SB-362) Thursday, Jan. 28 PDF
  • Dec. 11—Executive Session for the Assembly Committee on Health and Healthcare Reform PDF
"));