wcco.com -
WASHINGTON (AP) ― After a 12-year fight, mental health advocates won passage of legislation championed by the late Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone to require insurance companies to treat mental health on an equal basis with physical illnesses, when policies cover both.
Approval came Friday in the House as part of a $700 billion financial bailout, two days after the Senate approved the measure, and President Bush quickly signed it into law.
"I'm ecstatic," said Wellstone's son, David Wellstone, who has been furiously lobbying Congress for mental health parity since his father's death in a 2002 plane crash. "Amazing. I want to pinch myself. In my family, this was a huge moment. To have my dad's legacy be this law is a great thing."
Another Minnesotan, Republican Rep. Jim Ramstad, has sponsored the bill for years in the House, bucking his own party's opposition.
"I never thought any bill would take 12 years to pass," said Ramstad, who is retiring after this year. "It has been 12 long years, but it's worth every minute of the effort."
Ramstad said he thanked the Democratic House speaker, Nancy Pelosi of California......
