...But no help for tobacco addiction.
Face the State Staff Report
Denver - A Democrat bill now being considered in the state Senate would vastly expand mandates on health insurance companies by requiring coverage of traditionally excluded and obscure mental conditions.
The legislation, Senate Bill 36, has been introduced by Sen. Moe Keller, D-Wheat Ridge, and would require coverage of mental disorders listed in the most recent edition of the International Classification of Diseases. Published by the World Health Organization, the ICD-9 is a medical clearinghouse used to classify and categorize diseases.
The legislation was approved by the state affairs committee on a on a party line vote of 3-2, with Colorado Springs GOP Senators Dave Schultheis and Ron May voting against it. The duo says the bill will force insurance companies to cover questionable diagnoses like jet lag, zoophilia (bestiality), transvestic fetishes, voyeurism, gender confusion in children, and transsexualism. The new mandates would also require drug and alcohol abuse coverage, while exempting coverage for those seeking to fight tobacco addiction or issues surrounding homosexuality.
Schultheis is concerned that the bill excludes certain diagnoses in order to advance a partisan social agenda. "To force coverage for sexual disorders but exempt homosexuality, which is also listed in the ICD-9, reeks of bias and agenda. Then, forcing insurance companies to cover the treatment of alcohol and drug abuse, but exempting tobacco, really does not pass the smell test."
The next stop for the bill will be the Appropriations Committee. It is scheduled to be heard this morning in Senate Committee Room 356.
No
On April 21st, 2007 SonOfReason says:
It is obviously not part of a homosexual agenda, but the DSM did classify it as a mental disorder at one point.
The thing that bothers me the most about this bill is that it WILL increase the cost of health care. How can the same people that argue for public health care argue to increase its costs?
This legislation has nothing to do with fairness. I'm sure the business community feels the same way.
Bill would mandate insurance
On April 14th, 2007 Jesscorg says:
Get a grip! This bill mandates coverage for mental health disorders like schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, and depression. The ICD-9 is a standard insurance industry classification system for medical conditions. It has not been updated recently. The reason the legislation specifically excludes certain diagnoses, including homosexuality, is because the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV, the most respected and updated listing of mental disorders, does not consider homosexuality a mental disorder. The legislation is simply trying to LIMIT coverage to accepted mental health disorders.
Among the disorders that ARE covered is post-traumatic stress disorder. It is a sad irony that an illness that affects about 20% of the troups currently can legally not be covered by insurance policies. Yet illnesses that are almost entirely lifestyle-driven, like emphazema, are always covered.
This legislation is a simple matter of fairness. It is certainly not a part of some "homosexual agenda."