The New York Times (1/30, A14, Pear) reported the Obama Administration "issued new rules...that promise to improve insurance coverage of mental healthcare for more than 140 million people insured through their jobs." Under the rules that go into effect July 1, "employers and group health plans cannot provide less coverage for mental healthcare than for the treatment of physical conditions like cancer and heart disease."
The AP (1/30) reported that the new rules prohibit "separate annual deductibles for mental health treatment" and higher "copayments for visiting a psychiatrist or social worker." The measure "also prohibits health plans from setting limits on number of visits or hospital days for mental health problems that are different from any such limitations on treatment for medical problems."
CQ HealthBeat (1/30, Norman, subscription required) reported that HHS Secretary Sebelius said, "The rules we are issuing today will, for the first time, help assure that those diagnosed with these debilitating and sometimes life-threatening disorders will not suffer needless or arbitrary limits on their care. ... I applaud the long-standing and bipartisan effort that made these important new protections possible."
Modern Healthcare (1/29, Zigmond) reported, "The rule applies to group plans of 50 or more people and divides benefits into the following six categories: inpatient, in-network; inpatient, out-of-network; outpatient, in-network; outpatient, out-of-network; emergency care; and prescription drugs."
The Los Angeles Times (1/31, Levey) reported that the healthcare reform effort is being "undertaken quietly" by Democrats, as they "are meeting almost daily to plot legislative moves while gently persuading skittish rank-and-file lawmakers to back a sweeping bill." The effort to "push the issue off the front page" is seen as "the only hope for resuscitating the healthcare legislation" by Democratic leaders, as "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) particularly want to give members time to recover from the shock of Republican Scott Brown's victory in the Massachusetts Senate race two weeks ago."
CQ Today (1/30, Armstrong, subscription required) added that Families USA Executive Director Ron Pollack suggests that Speaker Pelosi "is pressing her caucus to agree to clear the Senate health care overhaul plan along with a package of compromises passed through expedited reconciliation rules...in spite of her recent declarations that the Senate plan cannot pass the House and decision to float a series of more limit alternative bills."
On "Fox News Sunday," The Hill (2/1, Hooper) reports, Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) said that the effort is still alive to pass "comprehensive legislation." Likewise, on NBC's "Meet The Press," House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) "conceded...that the controversial measure was alive," saying, "We've seen all week Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Reid continuing to scheme and plot trying to find some way to get their big government takeover of healthcare enacted."
