House Approves Mental Health Parity Bill, Mandates Coverage

Washington (dbTechno) - The U.S. House has passed a mental health parity bill on Wednesday evening. The Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equality Act requires insurance companies to cover mental illnesses in the same manner that they would cover medical costs and such for physical illnesses.

The bill was originally worked on over a decade ago by Sen. Paul Wellstone, and is now named after the late Senator.

The House passed the bill 268 to 148.

The Senate has also passed its own version of the bill. Before it can be sent to the desk of President Bush though for final approval, the two sides, the House and the Senate, need to work together to work out differences between the two bills.

The House version has stronger mandates on how insurers must cover patients with mental health illnesses.

The sponsors of the bill are said to be extremely happy, as they have been pushing to get this passed for quite some time.

Sponsors held a rally on the steps of the Capitol prior to the vote, along with House Democratic leaders.