Bill would require health insurers to provide equal coverage for physical conditions and mental health.
A similar measure was blocked because the legislator considers that it would cost $ 4 billion over the next decade. To cope with the costs, Congressmen Kennedy and Ramstad included a ban on specialty hospitals owned and operated by doctors to save money.
How would a ban on specialty hospitals cut costs?
Opponents of specialty hospitals say these facilities tend to make expensive medical procedures and to attract patients who are healthier and have better insurance. This leaves other hospitals with uninsured patients more and more sick - increased costs for everyone
They also argue that it is unfair to doctors to refer patients to facilities health care which they have a financial interest, according to a report (PDF file.) Congress of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.
Some Republican lawmakers advocate specialty hospitals, stressing that they provide better quality care and promote innovative medical procedures.
Article Kaiser did not say what chance had the measure to the House, but the parity of mental health gains consciousness.
The new bill is almost track the law passed last month that extended a law banning insurers to set different maximum lifetime and annual limits on mental health benefits.
last year, the member of Congress father Patrick Kennedy, Senator Edward Kennedy, sponsored a bill on parity of similar mental health that was adopted in the US Senate.
Quick update : the House is expected to approve the bill, wrote the WSJ Health Blog. More than half of the House is co-sponsoring the measure, which essentially guarantees its passage.
But because it is different from the version the Senate, lawmakers from both houses of Congress will have to compromise on the provisions of the bill before sending it to the president.
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