Sound Body, Sound Mind—The Impact of the Mental Health Parity Act of 2008

Abstract

On October 3, 2008, in response to bank and lending house failures and the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, President Bush signed into law the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, more commonly known as the “bailout bill.” As funds 1 from the financial relief program created by the bailout bill, the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP), are spent to slowly reverse the economic recession, another positive effect of the bailout bill has already taken hold in an area having nothing to do with financial markets—health insurance coverage for Americans suffering from mental illness. This is because, buried within the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, is the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Act of 2008 (the “2008 Act”)—legislation that requires parity in insurance coverage for physical and mental illness.