Thomas Daschle: “Yet the Wellstone bill remains stuck in the HELP Committee because of fierce opposition from the insurance industry and…”

“Yet the Wellstone bill remains stuck in the HELP Committee because of fierce opposition from the insurance industry and its allies. Opponents of mental health parity claim it will drive up the cost of health coverage, which will result in more people losing their insurance. Let me be clear. Their claims are not true. They are scare tactics. We have heard them all before. To begin with, small businesses with fewer than 50 employees would be totally exempt. In addition, two highly respected organizations have analyzed the Wellstone bill. The private accounting firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts it would increase health insurance premiums by 1 percent. That is it, 1 percent. That works out to $1.32 per month. The Congressional Budget Office predicts an even smaller average increase, nine-tenths of 1 percent. I think most families would think that is a pretty good deal. Senators Domenici and Wellstone modeled their bill on the mental health parity provisions in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. According to the Office of Personnel Management, those provisions have increased FEHB premiums only 1.3 percent, and that includes treatment for substance abuse which is not part of the Wellstone bill. Even these very small cost estimates are probably high because they do not factor in the cost savings resulting from parity.”