Gore Seeks Expanded Children’s Mental Health Benefits

Vice President Al Gore on Wednesday proposed requiring health insurers to offer children the same level of coverage for mental illness as they provide for other medical needs.

The proposal was part of a broader plan by the presumed Democratic nominee for president to combat the stigma of mental illness and expand access to treatment.

“Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of,” Gore told several dozen advocates for the mentally ill. “But stigma, discrimination and ignorance shame us all.”

The release of Gore’s mental health agenda was the latest in a series of events this week to outline his positions and flesh out his personal background after weeks of attacking his presumed Republican rival, Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

Gore unveiled the plan at a mental health forum co-hosted by his wife, Tipper, who disclosed last year that she took medication for depression after their only son was struck by a car and nearly killed in 1989.

Mrs. Gore alluded briefly to her troubles, saying mental illness “certainly touched my life and my family’s life. Like many of you, I’ve turned my private experience into public action.”

Gore called for training teachers to spot symptoms of mental illness, expanding programs for the homeless and strengthening protections of patient privacy.

The government’s total cost, which would be covered by the federal budget surplus, would be $2.5 billion over 10 years, a Gore aide said. The cost of health insurance to employers and consumers would rise by roughly 1%. Gore’s key proposal was to expand insurance coverage for children so that mental illness is treated the same as heart disease, diabetes or other physical ailments. The requirement would apply to employer-sponsored health plans and to the Children’s Health Insurance Program, which covers youngsters in families with incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid.

Mental health experts say children with mental disorders who get treatment are less apt to commit suicide, drop out of school, abuse drugs or turn to violence. Gore cited the two boys who shot and killed 12 schoolmates, a teacher and themselves last year at Columbine High School in Colorado.

“As Columbine taught us, we cannot wait until tragedy strikes to reach out effectively to troubled young people and give them help and hope,” Gore said.

Gore and his wife took questions at the forum. Leah Royce, a Maryland dentist whose son, Max, 7, has autism and bipolar disorder, told the Gores of her ordeal getting treatment. The family’s insurer denied coverage when Max was first hospitalized at 4 years old. She said they underwent seven months of anguish before a lawyer managed to get the boy covered by Medicaid.

“We weren’t sleeping,” she said. “All we did all day and all night long was think: How are we going to pay for this without insurance?”

Gore walked over to Royce to get a photograph of Max. He brought it back to his wife, who called the boy adorable. “Thank you very much for sharing that,” Mrs. Gore told her.

A 1996 federal law bars most employers that offer group health plans from limiting coverage of mental illness more than physical maladies. A report released last month by the General Accounting Office found that 86% of employers covered by the law were complying with it.

The Gore plan, his aides said, would expand mental health coverage for children by closing some loopholes in the 1996 law.

Kevin Dwyer, president of the National Assn. of School Psychologists, called Gore’s proposal “a tremendous step forward.” While Medicaid often covers treatment of mental illness for children of the poor, he said, many middle-class families can’t afford to seek help for their kids when their insurers won’t pay.

“It tears families apart,” he said.

In Texas, Bush signed into law three years ago a measure similar to the federal law mandating mental health coverage “parity,” his spokesman Dan Bartlett said. Bartlett also extended a rare bit of praise to Gore.

“Gov. Bush appreciates he and Mrs. Gore’s focus and attention on an issue that he believes is important,” Bartlett said.