Our fight for mental health and addiction parity legislation, otherwise known as the Wellstone bill, began in 2003. Immediately following the death of Senator Paul Wellstone in late 2002, many of his colleagues in the Senate promised to pass this common-sense legislation in his honor. Paul fought for parity because he believed it was a civil rights issue -- ending discrimination against people with mental illness and addiction in insurance coverage.
Beginning in 2003, David Wellstone began to travel to Washington and remind members of Congress of the promises made. The following year, tens of thousands of people lobbied for the Wellstone Bill, and we traveled cross-country in Paul Wellstone's old green school bus rallying supporters.
Despite overwhelming support (the Wellstone bill had a majority of co-sponsors in both the House and Senate), it never came up for a vote. It was determined that the leadership in Congress thought it was more important to cater to the entrenched interests of big insurance companies than end discrimination against people with mental illness and addiction. We knew we needed new leaders in Congress to break through the block created by the insurance lobby.
In 2007, with new leadership in both houses of Congress, there was renewed hope in passing the Wellstone bill. In July, David Wellstone traveled to Washington and testified before Congress with former First Lady Rosalyn Carter on the importance of this life-saving legislation.
Then, we began to see momentum. First, the Senate passed a weaker parity bill that contained too many concessions to insurance companies and not enough protections for patients. As a result, David Wellstone asked that his father's name be left off the bill.
In March 2008, a historic vote took place in the House of Representatives, and they passed the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act for the first time. Finally, all that remained was negotiating a compromise between the House and Senate versions of the bill.
As it stands today, the policy details have all been ironed out, and we are very pleased with the strong protections for people with mental illness and addiction that have remained in the final version. The Wellstone bill has been included in Jobs, Energy, Families and Disaster Relief Act of 2008 (S. 3335).
It is anticipated that this Senate bill will be voted on this week. Please call your Senator and urge them to pass S. 3335 with the following message:
“I’m calling to ask that the Senator vote for the Jobs, Energy, Families and Disaster Relief Act of 2008 (S. 3335). The Senate must pass lifesaving mental health and addiction parity legislation included in the bill before the August recess."