Am I the only one who saw ‘Sicko’?  Why is everybody wetting themselves over this new “landmark mental health bill”? It’s just another useless little band-aid.  Bush and Patrick Kennedy are probably picking out china by now.  Thursday’s lovefest/ceremonial signing featured a special leather-bound copy of the bill, and the pen… ooh the special pen. (Bush is going to put it in his liberry.) The Providence Journal featured this story with a huge above-the-fold headline, as if this really accomplishes anything.

Mr. Bush engaged the legislators on the details of their long struggle for mental health parity — the requirement that mental illness, including alcoholism and drug addiction, be insured on a par with the coverage for physical illness and injury.

So what can we expect from this mandate?  The insurance companies will raise the premiums to cover the increased costs. More people will be forced to drop their coverage because they can’t afford it. They will become depressed and start drinking…

Tags: health care, mental health, Patrick Kennedy

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