Two days ago, legislation that requires private insurers to provide equal benefits for mental illness and physical ailments was approved by the United States Congress. Having received great support from business and insurance companies, as well as from the White House and the medical community, the measure is now just one step away from becoming a law. The issues that need to be solved in order to ensure its passage into a law include deciding whether the measure should be part of a larger legislation  package and striking an agreement on the way the cost to the federal government is to be paid. The aforementioned cost is estimated at $3.4 billion over a period of 10 years.

Presently, the House has approved the measure as a free-standing bill, by a vote of 376 to 47, while the Senate has developed it into a $150 billion tax cuts package, by a vote of 93 to 2. The current federal law allows insurers to limit the mental health benefits if they wish to do so, and also set higher co-payments. Generally, these limitations entail 30 visits to a doctor or 30 days of hospital care following the development of a mental illness.

The bill is expected to go from Congress to United Stated president George W. Bush in order for him to sign it, thus providing more generous coverage for approximately 113 million Americans. Morever, people hope that the soon-to-be law will erase the stigma on mental disorder patients, rendering the latter more self-confident and less self-conscious about their condition.