Complete Bill History



House Resolution 33

PAG LIN





  1  1                HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. ___
  1  2                        BY  FORD
  1  3 A Resolution supporting public policy changes so that
  1  4    substance abuse treatment services have parity with
  1  5    other services provided under public and private
  1  6    health coverage.
  1  7    WHEREAS, addictions to alcohol and other legal and
  1  8 illegal substances are recognized by the American
  1  9 Medical Association as chronic medical conditions just
  1 10 as are asthma, hypertension, and diabetes; and
  1 11    WHEREAS, health insurance benefits for substance
  1 12 abuse treatment do not have parity with the benefits
  1 13 available for treatment of other chronic medical
  1 14 conditions; and
  1 15    WHEREAS, studies show that the treatment approaches
  1 16 used for substance abuse are as effective as, or more
  1 17 effective than, the treatment approaches used for
  1 18 other chronic medical conditions; and
  1 19    WHEREAS, the need to address substance abuse is
  1 20 especially significant to minorities; for example,
  1 21 survey results from 2000 suggest that 6.4 percent of
  1 22 African=Americans age 12 and up used an illegal drug
  1 23 during the previous 30 days, and in 1999, non=Hispanic
  1 24 African=Americans made up 12 percent of the nation's
  1 25 general population but accounted for 23 percent of
  1 26 admissions to publicly funded substance abuse
  1 27 treatment facilities; and
  1 28    WHEREAS, research by the Substance Abuse and Mental
  1 29 Health Services Administration of the United States
  1 30 Department of Health and Human Services indicates that
  2  1 requiring comprehensive parity for substance abuse
  2  2 treatment would increase family health insurance
  2  3 premiums by approximately one percent annually; NOW
  2  4 THEREFORE,
  2  5    BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
  2  6 That implementation of comprehensive parity for
  2  7 substance abuse treatment is a public policy priority
  2  8 for the State of Iowa; and
  2  9    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That comprehensive parity
  2 10 should be achieved for private coverage by prohibiting
  2 11 individual and group health insurance policies from
  2 12 having terms, conditions, or benefit levels that place
  2 13 a greater financial burden on an insured for provision
  2 14 of substance abuse treatment than for treatment of a
  2 15 medical, surgical, or other physical condition; and
  2 16    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That comprehensive parity
  2 17 should be achieved for public coverage by prohibiting
  2 18 Medicare, Medicaid, and other government=funded or
  2 19 government=sponsored health coverage programs from
  2 20 having terms, conditions, or benefit levels that place
  2 21 a greater financial burden on an insured for provision
  2 22 of substance abuse treatment than for treatment of a
  2 23 medical, surgical, or other physical condition; and
  2 24    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Chief Clerk of the
  2 25 House of Representatives shall transmit an official
  2 26 copy of this resolution to the President of the United
  2 27 States and the members of Iowa's congressional
  2 28 delegation.
  2 29 LSB 2560HH 80
  2 30 jp/pj/5

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