That mandate equal coverage for physical and Mental Health care. Mental Health Care Providers testified about difficulties in implementing a federal health care parity law. This hearing of the house energy and subcommittee on health is an hour and 40 minutes. Ladies and gentlemen, if youll take your seats, well start. The subcommittee will come to order. Before we begin, i want to make a note that members may be filtering in and out throughout the hearing. Unfortunately, the condensed september session, there are a number of scheduling conflicts this morning. But we wanted to be sure to have this important hearing before congress recessed at the end of the month. With that being said, chair recognize himself for an Opening Statement. Todays Health Subcommittee hearing will examine the federal Mental Health parity laws and regulations. In 2008, Congress Passed a bill requiring most Group Health Plans to provide more generous coverage for treatment of Mental Illnesses comparable to what
Forgive us when we boast about tomorrow, forgetting that our times are in your hands. Today, bless our lawmakers and their staff. Remind them that they belong to you and that you will order their steps. As they wrestle with complex issues, help them seek your wisdom and guidance. Empower them as stewards of your bounty to serve you and humanity, striving to be faithful in the vocation to which you have called them. We pray in your sacred name. Amen. The president pro tempore please join me in reciting the pledge of allegiance to our flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. Mcconnell mr. President . The presiding officer the majority leader. Mr. Mcconnell the junior t junior senator from New Hampshire delivered a powerful address to our nation this weekend. She spoke about the need to tackle a heroin and prescription Opioid Epidemic thats majori
Thats why we have a british History Lesson that school to bring different people together. That is right. Our way, the conservative way. [applause] if you believe in Strong Defense and few others to understand the that is possible if you believe we could become the Enterprise Capital of the world. If you want us to be the generation is never too late. This is possibly my last election labor is a gate i am 100 for a united kingdom. [applause] i believe we can make this era a defining decade for our country one that people will look back to say when people no longer felt the current we can be that Great Britain. Nothing is written repros that in school end said the problems of our society that we have to read highlife a struggle. That means go out to do the same thing all over the weekend to be treated differently. But we need to have millions of these individual success stories. In Great Britain they are raised expectations employees because of employers. Eva with a bigger e. Connor wit
Step to ensure culturally competent care in compliance with the national culturally and linguist with appropriate Service Stands and legislation . So is already required . Of different states space are you think is already required . Thats what im trying to explain the i think it is the states mandated. 13 is on the table and a couple have vetoed it. What state individual do is up to them but certainly along those lines were because its valuable. I just think its a federal regulation . Im not familiar with the process. Im just learning spent because the extent that those are out there, what were doing is trying to pick up the slack for a of the agencies that have not paid attention to the. I think its about to have a password want to make sure that for access to providers who are minority numbers and being part of communities and being out there. We have made major changes from her first draft to the current one. We are working on other things. We recognize its a java part of the nasa
It is infused into my Medicare Medicaid work. You have to have someone overseeing the Big Mental Health stent, not just the targeted dollars. How do we ensure that insurers are following through with the changes made. We hear on a daily basis that they had taken this guarantee. Either you have a technically cover Behavioral Health like physical health and direct so many barriers to getting that Behavioral Health benefits that it just becomes meaningless often, and the stories are heartbreaking. When you walk through an emergency room and have a broken leg or a bleeding ulcer, you get treatment immediately. But if you walk in with a complex Behavioral Health issue at night. Nobody touches you, treats you, evaluates you because they wont touch you until they know that they can get someone on the phone at an Insurance Company to give you the prior authorization for treatment and so they were house you overnight. But we need to do is what this bill does which sheds light on the processes t