CQ's Carey Discusses SCHIP, Mental Health Parity, Postpartum Depression Bills

Mary Agnes Carey, associate editor of CQ HealthBeat, discusses House Democrats' failure to override President Bush's veto of SCHIP legislation, a House mental health parity bill and legislation that would expand postpartum depression research in this week's "Health on the Hill from kaisernetwork and CQ."

House Democrats fell 13 votes short of the two-thirds majority needed to override the veto of legislation that would have reauthorized and expanded SCHIP. According to Carey, Democrats plan to send another SCHIP proposal to Bush within the next two weeks, but they have said that they will not compromise on the number of children who would be covered under an expansion of the program or on funding SCHIP with a 61-cent-per-pack increase in the federal cigarette tax. Democrats also intend to continue seeking more Republican votes to gain the two-thirds majority, Carey says. She adds that House and Senate Republicans have offered an alternative SCHIP measure that would increase funding for the program by $11 billion over five years. Under the measure, states would be required to prove that they have covered 90% of eligible children in families earning up to 200% of the federal poverty level before expanding coverage to children in families with incomes up to 250% of the poverty level. Bush administration officials said they plan to meet with Democrats to discuss an SCHIP compromise, according to Carey.

Carey also discusses the House Energy and Commerce Committee's recent approval of mental health parity legislation. The bill now will head to the House floor, where it is expected to pass. According to Carey, the House version of the bill would require insurers to cover more mental health services than the Senate bill, which likely will create difficulties when it comes to reconciling the two bills. The Bush administration, business groups and many in the mental health community oppose the House's expansion of coverage.

In addition, Carey discusses legislation passed by the House that would direct NIH to expand research initiatives and increase public awareness of postpartum depression. The bill would require basic research into the causes of the condition and the development of improved screening and diagnostic techniques, as well as information and education programs for health care professionals and the public. The measure also calls for a study that would explore the mental health consequences of pregnancy outcomes, including abortion, Carey says (Carey, "Health on the Hill from kaisernetwork and CQ," 10/22).


The complete audio version of "Health on the Hill," transcript and resources for further research are available online at kaisernetwork.


Reprinted with kind permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation© 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.