Michele Bachmann: “today we are debating a bill which addresses an issue that is near and dear to my heart: helping those with mental…”

“today we are debating a bill which addresses an issue that is near and dear to my heart: helping those with mental health disorders. As the wife of a clinical therapist, I have seen the many challenges that people who have mental health disorders face day after day. These are very real impairments--but through counseling and appropriate treatments, real breakthroughs can be made. We can help those individuals who suffer, as well as their families and our overall society. But I have serious concerns about the scope of this legislation and the impact it will have on the affordability of health insurance for all Americans. By mandating that group health plans offer the same financial benefit structure for both mental and physical disorders, the cost of insurance will increase across the board--and with accessibility of health care services and the affordability of health care coverage so paramount a concern for families across the country. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the cost of these mandates in the private insurance market will total $3 billion annually by 2012. This will inevitably set up a cycle of increasing costs on employers offering health insurance and thus increasing costs for employees seeking to obtain coverage. These mandates may even have an adverse affect on access to mental health coverage at all.”