House votes in mental health bill

Basin legislative representatives show support

COLUMBIA BASIN — Group health insurance plans would be required to provide coverage for mental health the same way they would for physical health, according to a bill passed in the House last week.

Known as House bill 1154, it passed last week by a margin of 67 to 25 with bipartisan support and has found much support among state representatives in the Basin.

"The issue with mental health is that as we learn more about it, we find there are real illnesses and we are able to treat that and improve individual quality of life," said Rep. Janea Holmquist R-Moses Lake. If mental illnesses are left untreated, she said, "they're translating into chronic and expensive health care problems that could fall on the laps of the judicial system."

Even though employers in the state of Washington are not required to provide health benefits, the bill would require group health insurance plans of more than 50 employees to abide by the bill if it becomes law.

Those businesses with 50 or fewer employees would be exempt, but would still require insurers to offer optional mental health coverage.

Holmquist said she realizes the concern that may exist from health insurance carriers wary of adding another mandate on health care plans, of which there are already 47 in the state.

In response to that concern, Holmquist said she is in the process of drafting a bill that proposes cutting those mandates in half and prioritizing them so that coverage for mental health illnesses would still remain a priority.

"That would hopefully encourage health insurance companies to come back to Washington state," she said.

Scott Vrieling of Lifewise Health Plans of Washington in Moses Lake believes that there needs to be cuts in state mandates in order to bring insurance rates down. "If we could dump those state mandates, our insurance rates would go down 20 percent," Vrieling said.

However, mandates or not, mental health agencies say the time is past due for health insurance plans to offer equal coverage for mental and physical health.

"Mental illness is no different than other types of physical health issues such as diabetes or heart disease," said Sharon Kiehn, director of Grant Mental Health Care.

Kiehn said more money can be saved in the long run by treating mental illness now rather than later. "When mental illness goes untreated, (those people) could end up in a more costly situation such as a hospital emergency room," she said.

State Senator Joyce Mulliken R-Ephrata, agreed that placing mental health on a parity with physical health would be a cost-benefit.

"Those who suffer from mental illness will have the care and treatment they need so they can function in the communities where they live and work," she said.

The bill is now being discussed in the state Senate.

About the Bill

House bill 1154 gets the nod from local reps. Here's a look at what it contains:

— Requires group health insurance plans to provide the same amounts and terms of coverage for mental health services as is provided for medical and surgical services.

— Allows the mental health parity requirements to be phased-in between January 1, 2006, and July 1, 2010.

— Exempts certain types of mental health services from mandatory coverage provisions.

— Exempts groups with 50 or fewer employees from mandatory coverage. Insurers must offer optional mental health coverage to those groups.