nual benefits, mental health benefits would not be required, substance abuse parity would not be allowed and business that has 25 or fewer employees would be exempt. The amendment would have several effects. The cost to the federal government was projected to decrease from $16.7 billion to $1.8 billion. The amendment stated that there would be a .4 percent increase in premiums. However, employers should only expect to see a .16 percent increase in premiums. After months of debating mental health parity was removed from SB 1171. The bill with the compromise amendment was passed in the house. However, it was removed from the reform bill due to opposition from the Republicans in the House of Representatives. On the first of August, Domenici and Wellstone introduced the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996, SB 2031. This bill was completely separate from the previous comprise that was made in July. After yet another compromise the parity amendment was attached to the Veterans Administration and Housing and Urban Development bill. A final addition to the amendment was that business could claim parity exemption if they could prove a 1 percent increase in health care costs. On September 26, 1996 the Mental Health Parity Act was signed into law. It took affect January 1, 1998 and will stop in 2002. The federal MHPA of 1996 is view as a benchmark towards true mental health parity. The Mental Health Parity Act of 1996The Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 mandates that “if companies employing more than 50 workers offer any mental health benefits at all, those benefits cannot have annual or lifetime dollar ceilings lower and more restrictive than those place on medical and surgical benefits.” (Otten 10). Also, this law will not preempt state laws that have more favorable mental health benefits. There are, however, few exceptions and restrictions accompanied by this law. If a company does not already offer mental health benef...
