HR 1402 109th Congress House

Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2005

Official title: To provide for equal coverage of mental health benefits with respect to health insurance coverage unless comparable limitations are imposed on medical and surgical benefits.

Introduced: July 28, 2005 See on congress.gov

Health Access to health careAlcoholismCivil Rights and Liberties, Minority IssuesCoinsurance

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CommerceCongressCongressional investigationsCongressional reporting requirementsDiscrimination in insuranceDiscrimination in medical careDrug abuseDrug abuse treatmentEmployee health benefitsFinance and Financial SectorHealth insuranceInsurance premiumsLabor and EmploymentManaged careMedical economicsMental health servicesQuality of careSmall businessStandards

Everywhere this bill has been 5 steps

Introduced

In committee

Reported out

Passed House

Passed Senate

To President

Became law

Sep 28, 2006

Motion to Discharge Committee filed by Mr. Kennedy (RI). Petition No: 109-18. (Discharge petition text with signatures.)

Apr 18, 2005

Referred to the Subcommittee on Employer-Employee Relations.

Mar 22, 2005

Referred to the Subcommittee on Health, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Chairman.

Mar 17, 2005

Referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.

Mar 17, 2005

Introduced in House

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Latest action September 28, 2006

Motion to Discharge Committee filed by Mr. Kennedy (RI). Petition No: 109-18. (<a href="http://clerk.house.gov/109/lrc/pd/Petitions/Dis18.htm">Discharge petition</a> text with signatures.)

Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2005 - Amends the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Public Health Service Act to prohibit a group health plan or group health coverage that provides both medical and surgical benefits and mental health benefits from imposing treatment limitations or financial requirements on the mental health benefits unless comparable limitations or requirements are imposed on medical and surgical benefits. Excludes such requirements for plans and coverage for small employers.

Allows a plan or coverage that provides in-network mental health benefits to provide out-of-network mental health benefits using treatment limitations or financial requirements that are not comparable to those applied to medical-surgical benefits if the in-network mental health benefits are provided at parity with medical-surgical benefits and with reasonable access.

Requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to: (1) study the effects of this Act on health insurance costs and access and quality of health care; and (2) provide a cost estimation of extending such requirements to the treatment of substance abuse and chemical dependency.

Bill text 1 version

Introduced in House Formatted Text PDF Formatted XML

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

Committees of jurisdiction 4

Education and Workforce Committee
House of Representatives
Energy and Commerce Committee
House of Representatives
Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee
House of Representatives · subcommittee of Education and Workforce Committee
Health Subcommittee
House of Representatives · subcommittee of Energy and Commerce Committee

Cosponsors 68

Moore, Gwen

Wisconsin · Mar 16, 2006

Watson, Diane

· Mar 8, 2006

Norton, Eleanor Holmes

District of Columbia · Nov 16, 2005

South Carolina · Oct 6, 2005

Thompson, Mike

California · Sep 27, 2005

Wilson, Joe

South Carolina · Sep 27, 2005

FRELINGHUYSEN, RODNEY

Colorado · Sep 20, 2005

Sanders, Bernard

Vermont · Sep 13, 2005

Sherman, Brad

California · Sep 8, 2005

Meek, Kendrick

· Jul 29, 2005

Van Hollen, Chris

Maryland · Jul 29, 2005

Waters, Maxine

California · Jul 29, 2005

Georgia · Jul 28, 2005

Case, Ed

Hawaii · Jul 28, 2005

Davis, Danny K.

Illinois · Jul 28, 2005

GORDON, BART

· Jul 28, 2005

Hoyer, Steny H.

Maryland · Jul 28, 2005

KILPATRICK, CAROLYN

· Jul 28, 2005

Larsen, Rick

Washington · Jul 28, 2005

Lofgren, Zoe

California · Jul 28, 2005

Markey, Edward J.

Massachusetts · Jul 28, 2005

Neal, Richard E.

Massachusetts · Jul 28, 2005

Schiff, Adam B.

California · Jul 28, 2005

Scott, Robert C. "Bobby"

Virginia · Jul 28, 2005

Smith, Adam

Washington · Jul 28, 2005

Wasserman Schultz, Debbie

Florida · Jul 28, 2005

KANJORSKI, PAUL

· Jul 27, 2005

Larson, John B.

Connecticut · Jul 27, 2005

Lynch, Stephen F.

Massachusetts · Jul 27, 2005

Matsui, Doris O.

California · Jul 27, 2005

Meeks, Gregory W.

New York · Jul 27, 2005

MOLLOHAN, ALAN

· Jul 27, 2005

Nadler, Jerrold

New York · Jul 27, 2005

Pelosi, Nancy

California · Jul 27, 2005

California · Jul 26, 2005

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APA

U.S. Congress. (2026). H.R. 1402: Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2005. 109th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/109-HR-1402/

MLA

"H.R. 1402: Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2005." 109th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/109-HR-1402/.

Bluebook (legal)

H.R. 1402, 109th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/109-HR-1402/.

Markdown link

[H.R. 1402: Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2005](https://openamerica.io/bill/109-HR-1402/)