Government
Mental health parity law extended
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Jan. 17, 2005
As part of the Working Families Tax Relief Act signed into law at the end of last year, the mental health parity law was extended for this year.
The original act expired in 2001 but has been extended by Congress each year since. Mental health advocates have pushed Congress to close loopholes in the law that allow health plans to continue setting different co-payments and deductibles for mental health services. But despite strong bipartisan support for legislation that would broaden the act's protections, the issue was not taken up by Congress last year.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/01/17/gvbf0117.htm.