A new parity law in Kentucky has narrowed the gap between mental health benefits and physical health benefits. Championed by the Kentucky Psychiatric Association (KPA), the bill (HB 268) was signed into law last month by Governor Paul Patton (D).

The state Senate voted unanimously to pass the mental health parity bill last month after the House voted 87 to 9 in favor of the bill in March.

"This is a victory for people with mental illness and substance abuse problems who have suffered discrimination in their insurance coverage for years," said KPA legislative representative Ronald Spears, M.D.

The bill requires group insurance plans of 50 or more employees that offer mental health and substance abuse benefits to provide coverage equal to the plan’s benefits for physical illnesses, according to the bill. This means parity in lifetime and annual limits, deductibles, copayments, and prescription coverage.

Spears told Psychiatric News that a coalition called Partners for Parity played a key role in securing passage of the bill. Members include the state chapter of the Alliance for the Mentally Ill, the state psychologists association, the state medical society, and the KPA, said Spears.

"The coalition formed about a year ago to strategize about how to gain support in the legislature for a parity bill. We encountered some resistance from lawmakers, especially in the Senate, who assumed that parity was expensive and that we were mandating insurance coverage for mental illness and substance abuse," said Spears.

To convince them that parity wouldn’t break the bank, the coalition used actuarial studies. "We also told them that the bill gives health insurers the option of providing mental health and substance abuse benefits at parity or not offering them at all," said Spears.

KPA past president Mary Helen Davis, M.D., and a patient with bipolar disorder testified before the legislature, which also was effective, said Spears. "Leaders in the House and Senate were moved especially by the patient who described how she became disabled by her illness because of inadequate mental health benefits to pay for needed treatment."