Holden signs bills on mental health insurance, property taxes

ST. LOUIS -- Elderly and disabled homeowners could get a tax break and many Missourians could find it cheaper and easier to get mental health insurance under bills signed into law Monday by Gov. Bob Holden.

The mental health legislation will affect nearly two million Missourians by requiring their group insurers to treat mental health coverage the same as they do physical health. The tax legislation will affect homeowners who are disabled or age 65 or older whose property tax rates rise significantly.

Missouri law already requires insurance companies to offer mental health coverage, but it can be pricier than traditional policies and employers do not have to pick that option. Under "mental health parity," mental health coverage must be included in all group insurance plans -- even the most basic -- beginning in January.

While affecting nearly 2 million people covered by entities such as health maintenance organizations, the bill does not affect a nearly equal amount believed to be covered by companies with self-insured health care plans, said Randy McConnell, a state Department of Insurance spokesman. Also not covered are about 170,000 people who purchase individual health-care plans, he said.

Deborah Wiethop with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Missouri said that many larger insurers, including her company, have already instituted policies giving mental health-care parity with regular health care. She said it's been gradually introduced over the past few years.

Under mental health parity, insurers in group health plans will be barred from using terms or conditions imposing a greater financial burden for mental health treatments, meaning patient deductibles and out-of-pocket limits would have to be the same for mental and physical health coverage.

Support of governorSupporters, including Holden, said making Missouri mental health coverage more affordable would encourage people to get treatment early, ultimately saving health-care costs. Opponents have argued the mandate would drive up insurance costs.

When it comes to insurance, "it never has made sense to me that you can separate the brain and any of the diseases of the brain from other parts of the body," said state Sen. Sarah Steelman, R-Rolla, during the signing ceremony also attended by other health-care officials and various lawmakers from both parties.

That measure cleared the Senate without a House-passed provision requiring that treatment for alcohol and drug addictions be covered in the same way as other insurable conditions. On Monday, Holden urged lawmakers to eventually pass that provision.

Under the property tax legislation, any increases in residential property taxes for older and disabled Missourians essentially would be capped at 5 percent after reassessments every other year, and at 2.5 percent in non-assessment years.

The tax break would apply to disabled people of any age and to people at least 65 years old with yearly household income up to $70,000. For married couples, at least one spouse would have to be 65 or older and the other at least 60 years old.

To get the tax break, homeowners would have to apply to the state, and the legislature would have to appropriate enough money to local governments to make up for the lost taxes. If the legislature does not appropriate money in any given year, the tax break will not be offered.

Under another bill signed Monday by Holden, the state will collect reports from each hospital on the frequency and types of infections acquired in Missouri health-care sites and make that information public starting in late 2006.

Officials on Monday cited figures suggesting that 90,000 people die each year from hospital infections acquired by about two million patients, and that one-third to one-half of the infections were preventable.

Staff writer Tony Rehagen contributed to this report.

------Bills are SB730 and SB1279, and HB855.

On the Net

Legislature: http://www.moga.state.mo.us

Governor: http://www.gov.state.mo.us