While Congress and the nation were busy focusing on passing the Wall Street bailout bill of 2008, a little-known piece of legislation was attached to it that provides a major step forward for equal medical treat- ment and insurance coverage for addictive and mental-health disorders. Known as the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008, the legislation requires insurers to cover addiction and mental illnesses on par with physical illnesses, using the health plan that covers members of Congress and other federal employees as a model.

“This legislation is one more step in the long civil-rights struggle to ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to reach their potential,” said Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), who co-sponsored the bill with Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-Minn.). “For far too long, health insurance companies have used the stigma of mental illness and substance abuse as an excuse to deny coverage for those bio- logical disorders…. This critical legislation outlaws the discrimination that is embedded in our laws and our policies.”

The parity bill does not require health insurance plans to cover addiction or mental health, but insurers are now barred from imposing any caps or limits on behavioral healthcare service that are not applied to other health conditions.