Mental Health Parity–the idea that insurance companies should cover mental health at the same level of care as other medical conditions–is being closely watched by all in the mental health community. The Mental Health Parity Act of 2007, which passed the Senate with unanimous consent, now waits to be reviewed by the House. The Act won’t require that insurance companies provide mental healthcare, but if they do, the care will need to be up to par with everything else.

Currently, there are 11 states that do not have mental health parity laws to regulate equality of care. Mental health consumers such as 12-year-old Couper Harding of Arizona rely on the mercy of insurance and the distant opportunity offered through red tape, as the Arizona Republic reported today:

Couper, now 12, has bipolar disorder, Tourette syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder – serious mental illnesses, diseases of the brain. If he had leukemia or cancer or most any other disease, the insurance company would have to treat him differently.

But in Arizona, unlike many other states, health-insurance companies don’t have to treat mental illnesses the same as physical illnesses, a double standard that mental-health advocates say leaves families like Couper’s struggling to get the care they need and often turning to taxpayer-funded programs to pick up the bills.

Politicians worry that the bill will make health care even more costly, but what’s most devastating is that whatever the cost, this still won’t be enough to ensure that the seriously mentally-ill get the care they need.

Take for example New York State’s Healthy NY, the government-subsidized health plan to give coverage to self-employed New Yorkers and small businesses. Mental health is currently not covered, which depending upon the plan signed up for, can cost about $300 a month. If the Parity Act passes it won’t matter. Mental health care will still be excluded and care will remain uncomprehensive.