
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 16, 1994                   TAG: 9406210063
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-43   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LAURA WILLIAMSON
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

TASK FORCE GETS FACILITATOR

In an unusual move, the state's Special Advisory Commission on Mandated Health Insurance Benefits agreed Monday to hire a professional facilitator to help business, insurance and health professionals find ways to reduce inequities in the way insurance companies cover mental and physical health.

Sen. Edward Houck, D-Spotsylvania, said the commission agreed to spend $10,000 to $12,000 on a 14-member task force that would include representatives from the business community; the insurance industry; state agencies; the General Assembly; and mental health consumers, providers and family members.

The task force was formed in response to pleas from Houck and mental health advocates, who argued that insurance companies discriminate against the mentally ill by providing less coverage of mental illnesses than they do of other health care problems. Insurance companies typically pay 80 percent of the cost of treating physical ailments but only 50 percent of the cost of treating mental illness.

This is the first time in recent history that a professional facilitator has been brought in to help members of a task force work better together, Houck said, adding that he believed each of the groups to be represented by the task force would work "in earnest" to achieve their goal.

The group's mission will be to determine "to what extent parity can be and should be achieved," he said. Houck expects a progress report from the task force by November and a final report by January, before the General Assembly convenes.

by CNB