Talks Over On Mental Health Issue Committee Backs Public Aid, Not Private Insurance Coverage

A legislative committee has killed its discussion of requiring medical insurance policies to cover treatment of mental illness after the state’s largest business lobby argued it should stick to public health issues.

The panel voted 5-3 to study only publicly supported mental health assistance.

Daniel Harkness, a founder of the Idaho Coalition Against Insurance Discrimination, said he believes the insurance industry and others with financial interests waged a lobbying effort on the lawmakers.

“I am disappointed, and I am also kicking myself in the fanny for our not moving more quickly,” said the Boise State University social work professor. “But most advocacy groups can’t afford full-time lobbyists.”

Sen. Shawn Keough, R-Sandpoint, who proposed limiting the committee’s study, bristled when asked whether the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry lobbied her.

“I love when people think I am bought and sold,” she said. “Nothing will raise my hair quicker.”

Keough said the resolution creating the committee focused on public mental services. It calls for determining the need for them, identifying problem areas and looking for improvements.

“That is an enormous issue in and of itself,” Keough said. “That is not to say the issue of parity (between physical and mental illness coverage) or private mental health services is not important. There is not time for that given the time that the committee is supposed to complete its work.”

Rep. Hilde Kellogg, R-Post Falls, who wanted the committee to study coverage for mental illness, said the mentally ill are not treated like those with physical ailments.

“If you don’t look at the whole picture, including insurance, I don’t think you can come up with a reasonable solution,” she said.

“We believe the committee made the right decision to retain its original focus,” said Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry President Steve Ahrens.

Ahrens said the group has fought requiring policies to cover mental illnesses.

“It has the potential of being an absolute financial black hole in the health care system,” he said. “There is just no objective way to evaluate many mental health situations in the way there is if you have a broken leg or a tumor or something like that.”

“This is just baloney and people are either ignorant or up to something when it comes to this issue,” Harkness responded.