US Senate OKs Bipartisan Bill

The US Senate has passed Senators Nancy Kassebaum and Edward Kennedy's bipartisan bill, which guarantees those insured through a current employer will not lose cover when moving to a new employer's plan, regardless of pre-existing medical conditions.

It also contains an amendment forcing insurers to cover mental illness as they do physical ailments; only 2% of people with severe mental illnesses have insurance providing benefits equal to those offered for physical illnesses, says sponsor Pete Domenici. Critics of the provision, which is not in the House version, feel it could cause a sharp, unsustainable rise in health spending and doom the bill; some groups say they will fight an overall reform bill unless it is dropped in conference.

The amendment could add about 1.6% to the net cost of US insurance cover, costing $16 billion over 10 years. The Association of Private Pension and Welfare Plans says providing services for severe mental illness could raise some managed care firms' expenses by 8.4%-11.4%.