Senate Passes Parity: House Action Needed

September 19, 2007

Last night, the U.S. Senate passed the Mental Health Parity Act of 2007 (S 558), legislation requiring health plans to cover treatment for mental illness on the same terms and conditions as all other illnesses.  The bill now moves to the House, where efforts are underway to move it forward later this fall. 

NAMI would like to express appreciation to the sponsors of S 558 – Senators Pete Domenici (R-NM), Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) and Mike Enzi (R-WY) – for their persistence and leadership in bringing parity legislation forward. NAMI also thanks all our grassroots members whose efforts have made this victory possible. We now need to ask you help again, to push parity through the House.

Action Required

The parity bill now moves to the House for consideration: Contact your member of Congress and urge them to support immediate House passage of S 558 so that the bill can be sent to the President.  You can also send a letter to your Senators thanking them for supporting mental illness parity.  Contact your Senators and Representative now using NAMI's Legislative Action Center.

Click here to view additional background information on S 558

NAMI E-News Alerts are electronic newsletters provided free of charge as a public service. With more than 1,100 state and local affiliates, NAMI is the nation's largest grassroots organization dedicated to improving the lives of people with severe mental illnesses. Contributions to support our work can be made online.

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