WASHINGTON, D.C. -- House Education & the Workforce Committee Chairman John Boehner (R-OH) today said Congress must examine the issue of mental health parity benefits in a balanced manner that recognizes the devastating impact of soaring costs on uninsured Americans.

     “I appreciate the attention the President is giving this important issue, and I know he understands the need to address it in a manner that doesn’t deter employers from voluntarily providing health benefits to their workers,” said Boehner.

     “Some mental health parity laws have been successful in a number of states - and the reason they’ve been successful is that they’ve struck an appropriate balance that doesn’t jeopardize workers’ existing benefits or discourage employers from voluntarily providing quality benefits to their employees,” Boehner said.

     “The average health care costs for employers last year rose by 13 percent and too many Americans still have no health insurance. I’m committed to exploring this issue in a manner that wouldn’t significantly increase the cost of health care premiums or hamstring employers' ability to manage their health plans. To ignore these important factors would only invite an unacceptable expansion in the ranks of the uninsured," said Boehner.

     On April 11, Maine Independent Gov. Angus S. King vetoed a bill to expand the state’s mental health parity law. In his veto message to lawmakers, King said the bill, while “well-intentioned,” was enacted “in a period of dramatically escalating health care and insurance costs.” King, citing health care premiums for employers that are rising by as much as 50 percent in his state, also said that “While expanding mental health care is a worthy goal, we cannot allow the best (comprehensive coverage including mental health benefits) to become the enemy of the good (any coverage at all).”

     In March, the Education & the Workforce Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations held a hearing on parity and heard testimony from both mental health advocates and employers concerning current federal mental health parity law, state laws that impact the issue, and the implications of expanding federal mental health parity for both employers as payers and employees as patients.

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