S 486 · 108th Congress 2003–2005, ended

Senator Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2003

Introduced Feb 27, 2003 Originated Senate Sponsor Pete V. Domenici R-NM

Fact sheet Spreadsheet

Latest action · Feb 27, 2003 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text of measure as introduced: CR S2972-2973)

Progress

Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

  1. IntroducedFeb 27, 2003
  2. Passed SenateNot reached
  3. Passed HouseNot reached
  4. To the PresidentNot reached
  5. Became lawNot reached

Summary

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 plan or insurance providing in-network mental health benefits, out-of-network mental health benefits need not be provided at parity to medical-surgical benefits, as long as in-network mental health benefits are provided at parity with medical-surgical benefits and the plan or insurance provides reasonable access to in-network providers and facilities.

Requires a General Accounting Office study of such requirements' effects upon health insurance costs, access, and quality and a cost estimation of extending such requirements to the treatment of substance abuse and chemical dependency.

Cosponsors 69

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Feb 27, 2003 to Sep 10, 2004; 25 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.

SeatCosponsorSigned on
D-PAArlen SpecterOriginalFeb 27, 2003
D-ARBlanche L. LincolnOriginalFeb 27, 2003
D-CTChristopher J. DoddOriginalFeb 27, 2003
R-IAChuck GrassleyOriginalFeb 27, 2003
R-WYCraig ThomasOriginalFeb 27, 2003
D-MAEdward M. KennedyOriginalFeb 27, 2003
D-NJFrank R. LautenbergOriginalFeb 27, 2003
D-NVHarry ReidOriginalFeb 27, 2003
D-RIJack ReedOriginalFeb 27, 2003
D-NCJohn EdwardsOriginalFeb 27, 2003
R-VAJohn WarnerOriginalFeb 27, 2003
R-RILincoln ChafeeOriginalFeb 27, 2003
R-SCLindsey GrahamOriginalFeb 27, 2003
D-WAMaria CantwellOriginalFeb 27, 2003
D-MNMark DaytonOriginalFeb 27, 2003
R-MNNorm ColemanOriginalFeb 27, 2003
R-KSPat RobertsOriginalFeb 27, 2003
D-WAPatty MurrayOriginalFeb 27, 2003
R-INRichard G. LugarOriginalFeb 27, 2003
R-UTRobert F. BennettOriginalFeb 27, 2003
R-MESusan M. CollinsOriginalFeb 27, 2003
R-MSThad CochranOriginalFeb 27, 2003
D-SDThomas A. DaschleOriginalFeb 27, 2003
D-SDTim JohnsonOriginalFeb 27, 2003
D-IATom HarkinOriginalFeb 27, 2003
D-MDBarbara A. MikulskiMar 7, 2003
D-CABarbara BoxerMar 7, 2003
D-FLBill NelsonMar 7, 2003
D-NDByron L. DorganMar 7, 2003
D-MICarl LevinMar 7, 2003
D-MIDebbie StabenowMar 7, 2003
D-CADianne FeinsteinMar 7, 2003
D-SCErnest F. HollingsMar 7, 2003
D-NYHillary Rodham ClintonMar 7, 2003
R-VTJames M. JeffordsMar 7, 2003
D-NMJeff BingamanMar 7, 2003
D-WVJohn D. Rockefeller IVMar 7, 2003
I-CTJoseph I. LiebermanMar 7, 2003
D-DEJoseph R. Biden Jr.Mar 7, 2003
D-LAMary L. LandrieuMar 7, 2003
D-MTMax BaucusMar 7, 2003
R-OHMike DeWineMar 7, 2003
D-ORRon WydenMar 7, 2003
D-NYCharles E. SchumerMar 18, 2003
D-HIDaniel K. AkakaMar 18, 2003
D-INEvan BayhMar 18, 2003
D-WIHerb KohlMar 18, 2003
D-MAJohn F. KerryMar 18, 2003
D-NJJon S. CorzineMar 18, 2003
R-UTOrrin G. HatchMar 18, 2003
D-MDPaul S. SarbanesMar 18, 2003
R-MEOlympia J. SnoweMar 24, 2003
D-VTPatrick J. LeahyMar 24, 2003
D-ILRichard J. DurbinMar 24, 2003
D-NEBen NelsonApr 7, 2003
D-HIDaniel K. InouyeApr 7, 2003
D-LAJohn B. BreauxMay 6, 2003
D-WVRobert C. ByrdMay 6, 2003
D-GAZell MillerMay 6, 2003
D-FLBob GrahamMay 19, 2003
D-NDKent ConradMay 19, 2003
D-ARMark L. PryorMay 19, 2003
R-ILPeter FitzgeraldJun 20, 2003
R-GASaxby ChamblissJun 20, 2003
R-ORGordon H. SmithJul 14, 2003
D-DEThomas R. CarperJul 29, 2003
R-MTConrad R. BurnsNov 13, 2003
R-COBen Nighthorse CampbellMar 25, 2004
R-AKLisa MurkowskiSep 10, 2004

Committees 1

Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.

ChamberCommitteeWhat it did
SenateHealth, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee
Referred Feb 27, 2003

Actions 3

Everything that happened, newest first.

  1. Feb 27, 2003Introduced in Senate
  2. Feb 27, 2003Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S2971-2972)
  3. Feb 27, 2003Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (text of measure as introduced: CR S2972-2973)

In the Congressional Record 9

Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.

WhereIn the RecordMembersDate
SenateDebate and remarks S10692Tim Johnson D-SDOct 7, 2004
SenateDebate and remarks S5907Thomas A. Daschle D-SDMay 20, 2004
SenateDebate and remarks S5730–S5733Lists S5732Organizations supporting S. 486, Mental Health Equitable Treatment ActDebbie Stabenow D-MI, Harry Reid D-NV, Thomas A. Daschle D-SDMay 19, 2004
SenateDebate and remarks S599–S601Lists S601–S603Supporters of S. 486 and H.R. 953, Mental Health Equitable Treatment ActThomas A. Daschle D-SDFeb 5, 2004
SenateDebate and remarks S14144, S14145Edward M. Kennedy D-MA, Pete V. Domenici R-NM, Thomas A. Daschle D-SDNov 6, 2003
Show all 9 days

Research

What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.

Printed hearings 2

Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.

NumberHearingCommitteeHeld
S. Hrg. 108-682MENTAL HEALTH IN CHILDREN AND YOUTH: ISSUES THROUGHOUT THE DEVELOPMENTAL PROCESS98 pagesHealth, Education, Labor, and Pensions CommitteeApr 28, 2004
S. Hrg. 108-489SUICIDE PREVENTION AND YOUTH: SAVING LIVES97 pagesHealth, Education, Labor, and Pensions CommitteeMar 2, 2004

Related bills 1

Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.

BillTitleRelationshipLatest action
S 1832Senator Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2003Related billMay 19, 2004

Titles 2

Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.

Official Title as Introduced
A bill to provide for equal coverage of mental health benefits with respect to health insurance coverage unless comparable limitations are imposed on medical and surgical benefits.
Short Titles as Introduced
Senator Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2003

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Health.

Text 1

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

  1. Feb 27, 2003Introduced in Senate

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Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.