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And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it;
if one member is glorified, all the members rejoice with it.
1 Corinthians 12: 4 - 26
Over the past two years, the Advocacy Group has been working for the passage
of a limited mental health parity bill. Last month such a bill finally
passed the Iowa Legislature and has been signed by Governor Vilsack
(effective July 1, 2005). Previously, Iowa was one of only three states with
no mental-health parity law requiring insurance companies to provide the
same coverage for mental illness as for physical ailments.
The new law requires businesses that have more than 50 employees to include
insurance coverage for biologically based mental illnesses (schizophrenia,
major depression, bipolar, schizo-affective, obsessive-compulsive, pervasive
development and autistic disorders.) The law applies to group policies
provided to companies with more than 50 employees, public employees and
small businesses.
The bill is indeed good news to celebrate! Could the law be further expanded
to include coverage for substance abuse or problems affecting children such
as eating disorders? Time will tell.
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