HR 953 · 108th Congress · Health

Senator Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2003

Introduced 2003-02-27· Sponsored by Rep. Kennedy, Patrick J. [D-RI-1]· House

Bill Progress

Introduced
2
Committee
3
House Vote
4
Senate
5
Enacted
Latest: Referred to the Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations.(2003-03-24)

Plain Language Summary

[AI summary unavailable — showing source text] Senator Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2003 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Public Health Service Act to prohibit certain employee group health plans or related insurances providing both medical-surgical and mental health benefits from imposing mental health treatment limitations or financial requirements unless comparable limitations and requirements are imposed upon medical-surgical benefits. States that the foregoing shall not be construed as requiring a group health plan (or related insurances) to: (1) provide any mental health benefits; (2) prevent the medical management of mental health benefits; or (3) require the provision of specific mental health services, except to the extent that failure to provide such services would result in a disparity between the coverage of mental health and medical-surgical benefits. Exempts specified small employers from such requirements. Requires that, in the case of a group health plan that offers a participant or beneficiary two or more benefit package options, the coverage requirements shall be applied separately with respect to each such option. Provides that, in the case of a p…

Summarized by Claude AI · Non-partisan · For informational purposes only

Cosponsors (20)

18 Democrats2 Republicans