Urgent Action Alert

Mental Health Parity in Upcoming Tax Bill

Calls to Senators Needed ASAP

Update on September 22, 2008--The House had scheduled a vote today but then decided to await Senate action (delayed last week). Please call your Senators!

September 16, 2008--Parity for mental health and addiction insurance coverage is included in the tax bill that the U.S. Senate will vote on—perhaps as early as tonight or tomorrow. Your call is important.

Please use the toll-free Parity Hotline: 1-866-parity4 (1-866-727-4894) to call your Senators right away.  (The Parity Hotline reaches the U.S. Capitol switchboard, which can connect you to each of your Senators’ offices.) 

Message: “I’m calling to ask that the Senator vote YES on the energy and tax package that includes parity for mental health and addiction services.  This legislation must pass this month before Congress adjourns.”

Background

Late yesterday, the Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-IA) announced their intention to push forward a bipartisan tax package that includes the historic agreement on mental health parity.  The new legislation, agreed to by the Senate's Democratic and Republican leadership, also includes tax incentives for clean energy, relief from the alternative minimum tax and the extension of several expiring family and business tax provisions.

Until this breakthrough the Senate and House leaders had struggled to bring the parity measure to the floor because leaders needed to identify a "pay-for" to offset the impact of implementing parity on federal revenues (estimated by the Congressional Budget Office at $3.8 billion over 10 years). A pay-for was necessary due to Congress's pay-as-you-go rules, which require legislation with fiscal implications to include either increases in revenues or decreases in spending to remain budget-neutral. The broad tax extender package includes significant offsets and could enable parity to move forward much more quickly, as early as this week.

This is fantastic news for everyone committed to enacting mental health and substance use parity now and the millions of Americans who will have equity in health insurance.

Thanks for your continuing grassroots efforts to keep this issue on the top burner in Washington. We are almost at the finish line. 

For more information:

• “Energy Improvement and Extension Act.”  Staff Summary of the Senate Finance Committee Summary Amendment to the Substitute Amendment to H.R. 6049
• News release from Senators Pete Domenici (R-NM), Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and Mike Enzi (R-WY), parity's sponsors in the Senate
  

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