Pros

• Insurance companies that don't offer parity are discriminating against those with the disease of addiction and other mental disorders. They are denying people the right to be responsible for their own health care.
  
• The decision by many insurance companies that treatment for addiction and other mental disorders is "not medically indicated" is medically unsafe and unrealistic; true addicts and individuals suffering from psychiatric disorders NEED medical care!
  
• In 1998, it was estimate by the actuarial firm Milliman & Robertson that the additional coverage would increase health insurance premiums by 0.5%, or less than $1 per enrollee each month.
  
• Parity would not require health plans to offer substance abuse benefits; instead, it would require plans that already cover chemical dependency to treat it equally with all other covered illnesses.
  
• After treatment of addiction, absenteeism, disability days, and disciplinary actions are shown to decrease by more than 50%.
• Addiction is the root cause of many other health problems, and this needs to be recognized so that many of these other problems can be prevented.
• In 2003, Vermont governor Howard Dean, MD, stated in his mental reform agenda that, "Treating mental health problems early is less expensive, more effective, and more humane than waiting until people with serious mental illnesses end up in a hospital or jail cell. "
• Individuals with severe mental illnesses living in states with mental health parity reported real benefits and savings because of the smaller co-pays and increased access resulting from the enactment of the legislation. 
• President Bush described the public treatment system for mental disorders as deeply troubled and inefficient. 
• At a 1999 white House Conference on Mental Health, Dr. Wayne Burton, the medical director of Banc One, reported that parity actually reduced expenses by making treatment more available earlier in the diagnostic process.
• Three decades of advances in psychiatric research have made diagnoses more accurate. Furthermore, the success rate for treatment has increased: 70-80% for depression, 70-90% for panic disorders, and 60% for schizophrenia. In contrast, heart disease has an overall treatment success rate of only 45-50%.
• Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said in regards to the 2008 bill on mental health parity that, "Illness of the brain must be treated just like illnesses elsewhere in the body". 
• Not offering equal coverage would negatively impact many of the 35 million Americans who experience disabling symptoms of mental disorders each year. 
• Researchers have found biological causes and effective treatments for numerous mental illnesses.
• A number of companies now specialize in managing mental health benefits, making the costs to insurers and employers more affordable. 
• Some doctors say that the stigma of mental illness, a disabling obstacle to millions of Americans seeking treatment, has faded as people see members of the armed forces returning from war with trauma-related mental disorders. 
• Mental health and substance abuse parity is an issue of civil rights. 
• Mental health concerns are highly prevalent, affecting about one quarter of all adults in the US, with variable but often very high impact on health and productivity. Such disorders are generally treatable, as long as patients have access to mental health care coverage and to a behavioral heal provider. 
• Parity benefits all sides of the healthcare system: it allows flexibility for planning care, has a modest impact on cost, and reduces the likelihood that coming to or staying in necessary services is obstructed because of financial barriers to care. 
• Parity of mental health and chemical dependency services, when combined with effective care management, can lead to greater fairness and insurance protections without significant adverse consequences for health care costs. 
• Would require insurers that cover mental health and substance abuse disorders to do so on par with medical and surgical procedures. 
• According to a 2007 bill passed by unanimous consent in the Senate, insurance companies have the flexibility to determine which mental health disorders and conditions to cover. 
• Addiction costs our society a lot more when left untreated. Expenditures from failure to treat addiction costed approximately $300 billion in 1999. 
• Untreated addiction costs six times more than heart disease, six times more than diabetes, and four times more than cancer. Denial of coverage makes little financial sense!
• The Rand Corp. found that unlimited substance abuse benefits cost employers only 43 cents per month. They concluded that, "Limiting substance abuse benefits saves very little... but affects a substantial number of patients who need additional car. "
• Treating a disease as a crime does not cure the disease; medical principles must be applied to addiction.
• An average working-class person struggling to pay the bills and be responsible for their own health care problems probably has little or no coverage for addiction or alcohol problems. This is a crisis in not only insurance coverage but in personal responsibility.