WASHINGTON, DC - Today, Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Gordon H. Smith (R-OR) introduced the Children's Mental Health Parity Act. The legislation will achieve mental health parity for children enrolled in the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which provides health care coverage to low-income children. Senators Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) and Pete Domenici (R-NM) are co-sponsors.

Currently, discriminatory limits on mental health care are one of the main reasons that low-income children are unable to get necessary mental health services. Many states impose restrictive limits on mental health care that do not apply to the coverage offered for traditional medical and surgical care. As a result, some children who ought to see a psychiatrist every week are only allowed one visit per month. Kerry's plan would make the coverage of mental health services equal with any other medical service.

"America's kids who are covered through SCHIP should be guaranteed that the mental health benefits they receive are just as comprehensive as those for medical and surgical care," Senator Kerry said. "As Congress works this year to see that the State Children's Health Insurance Program fulfills its promise to America's low-income children, we must ensure that the mental health benefits for children on the program give them the type of coverage they need. It's no less important to care for our kids' mental health, and this unfair and unwise disparity should no longer be acceptable."

"Treating the mental health needs of children in a fair and equitable way is a fundamental building block towards their successful growth and development into adulthood," said Senator Kennedy.

"With millions of Americans living with a mental illness, it is astounding that our health care system continues to treat mental health care as a subordinate category of medicine," said Senator Smith. "It is time for Congress to require that states step-up their efforts by working to identify and treat those in need rather than limiting their access to care. We need mental health parity on all levels, but certainly the government should be setting the standard in federal programs such as SCHIP."

According to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), mental health problems affect one in every five young people at any given time, and two-thirds of all young people with mental health problems are not getting the help they need. The highest prevalence of mental health problems among all children age 6-17 is observed among Medicaid-SCHIP children, at a rate significantly higher than for other insured children or uninsured children.

The Children's Mental Health Parity Act has been endorsed by several leading mental health advocacy organizations including Mental Health America, the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, The National Association for Children's Behavioral Health, the National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems, and the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare.