A measure long championed by the late Sen. Paul Wellstone and Rep. Jim Ramstad to require mental health parity in insurance policies has been attached to the $700 billion financial relief plan that the Senate is scheduled to vote on tonight.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said in a statement that the mental health provision is one reason she decided to vote for the bailout bill. “The legislation establishes parity in insurance coverage for mental health benefits, a matter of fairness and dignity that Paul Wellstone long fought for,” she said.
Many health insurance plans now provide far less coverage for treating mental illnesses than for physical treatments.
I would have liked to see this bill pass on its own, but its been almost six years since Paul died and at this point I’ll take it anyway I can get it.
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Seriously.
You can be all for the bailout bill. And you can be all for the Mental Health Parity bill.
But why in the hell do the two get mixed together? This is one of the problems with DC. All kinds of things get hooked on to bills that really aren’t related and don’t allow for a focused, specific debate on the matter at hand.
I am a big fan of Ramstad and am happy that it looks like the hard work he has done on this will pay off. But I sure wish the Mental Health Parity bill would be debated on its own merits, not tacked on to a banking rescue bill. If you don’t like the bailout bill, fix the bailout terms, conditions, amounts, etc. Don’t attached new crap on to the bill which deserves its town debate and its own up-or-down vote.
Zack -
To be clear, I wasn’t taking a shot at you… I agreed with your last point that I would have liked to see this bill debated on its own merits.
I’m not against mental health parity. I’m against the process in which this will ultimately be made into law.
Absolutely, DantheMan. This is not good news. This is terrible, terrible news; a bad tactic to get support for both bills by combining them. If the Bailout can’t stand on it’s own merits, it should NOT pass. If the Wellstone bill cannot stand on it’s own merits, it should NOT pass. Combining the two just serves to limit debate and subvert the political process, and I’m sure it was done deliberately to gain enough votes to squeak by.
This. Is. Awful. Pathetic. Disgusting. They’re treating this 700 billion dollar expenditure as just some regular old pork barrel project.
The bailout is going to pass by buying off the votes of 13 members. The price Ramstad extracted for his vote was his mental health bill. That’s not a knock on Ramstad. He had a choice of watching his bill die again, or getting it passed by attaching it to the bailout bill. Ramstad played the game well. Like it or not, that is how things work.
Just because it’s true our congressmen and women make a giant game out of our government — where the objective is to gain political clout at the expense of all else — doesn’t make it less offensive.
If Ramstad can’t get his bill to pass without hurting his constituents in the process, then he shouldn’t get it to pass, plain and simple. Extracting votes with political maneuvering when more than SEVEN HUNDRED BILLION DOLLARS are on the line is the epitome of irresponsible. That IS a knock on Ramstad, should he vote for this final bill in the house.
Don’t hate the player, hate the game.
No, I’ll go ahead and hate the player too. Nothing is forcing him or anyone to play it. If they wanted to change it, they could. If he got elected by saying “I’ll play the game (at your expense)!” rather than saying “I’ll work for you!”, you’d have a point, but he didn’t.
I agree with Brian.
If Ramstad doesn’t “play the game” he can’t “work for you.” That is how the system works, how it has always worked, and how it always will work. Being mad about it is like being mad that its cold in the winter and dark at night.
Don’t mean to be a jerk, but i wish I had a nickel for every-time I heard somebody screech… “That isn’t how it is supposed to be…” Politics is a game. It is about compromise. Politics is show business for ugly people. And it is the way it is, never has been the “supposed to be” that various people propose.
This bailout bill is only going to move with some grease on it. I consider Ramstad’s Mental Health Bill a mighty small bit of grease compared to what else is probably in that bill. And to add to this I expect my Senators and Congresscritters to bring home some pork… bitch all you want about it but tax dollars coming back to Minnesota are not a bad thing. Just take a look at the statistics for dollars sent to Washington versus dollars sent back and note that Republican states ARE pork ridden more than the Blue States.
I don’t believe that it has to be this way at all. Ramstad doesn’t have to play the game at all; none of the congressmen and senators do. They could take a principled, philosophical stand on every issue and I would consider that to be the best work he could do for me. Further, I don’t consider handouts, earmarks, pork and the like — the result of the game — working for me, I consider that working against me. There are other congressmen who get by without playing the game, and those are the ones I can respect.
It is worth noting that the system has not always worked the way it does now. Earmarking didn’t start until the 1800’s. The Federal Government of the past had far more limited scope than we have now as well. And, regardless, just because something is a certain way doesn’t mean there aren’t alternatives and certainly doesn’t mean it’s not worth trying to change.
Anyway, if you guys are fine with politics being a game, so be it, I’m not out to change anyone’s mind on that front. The game is wrong, and just because it’s hard to change doesn’t make it any less reprehensible to accept the status quo merely because it’s convenient. It is my preference to use my brain, think on things both practically and philosophically, and work for an ideal rather than throwing up my hands and dealing with what I was dealt, but to each his or her own.
The game is what it is because too many people think the rules aren’t their responsibility. That all they have to do is “win” within the playbook the inherited. It was the same rationale people used to continue slavery or keep women from voting. It is the last excuse of the coward.
It is our government, we are responsible not only for it’s actions but also the rules by which it governs.
This rider was a small gem in a pile of dung. I’m glad some good was done.
“I expect my Senators and Congresscritters to bring home some pork… bitch all you want about it but tax dollars coming back to Minnesota are not a bad thing.”
That is what has gotten Government into such a bad spot. The attitude of “well, if it is going to happen anyway, I’m at least going to get mine”. Pure crap.
I’m just trying to imagine the conversation that concluded these are all linked:
“The economy is in jeapordy. Banks are freezing lending — they are all worried about money flow. Without lending, businesses will have to scale way back. What do we do?”
“Quick — Make sure that health insurance covers depression therapy.”
“Whew… thanks!”
I don’t live in CD3, but Ramstead is one the few repubs I would have considered voting for. Good on him for making sure the mental health parity bill passes before he exits the house. Depression is an illness that deserves coverage in health plans, as is serious mental illness that leads to stabbing children. This story from last summer is just a recent example of inadequate care for people in mental health crisis.
http://www.startribune.com/local/east/27284789.html?elr=KArksUUUU
Adding mental health parity and renewable energy tax breaks were the best part of that turkey of a bailout bill. Makes more sense to me to object to some of the other pork - tax breaks for kids arrows? All earmarks are not created equal.
I wouldn’t mind getting rid of earmarks altogether, just so people would have to focus on the deficit that remains. With rising costs of healthcare, soc. security, defense, and interest on the debt, cutting spending will not realistically solve our budget problems. Bring on Tax hikes for the rich!
On a different note- I have been trying to interpret J. Kline’s vote in favor of the bailout bill. Is it due to concern or complete lack of concern for his reelection prospects. My view is it’s looking hopeless for Sarvi.
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR ADDING MENTAL HEALTH PARITY?? My GOD are any of the ‘news’ organizations going to let us know who is responsible? WHO ADDED IT??? Sheesh!