Lessons for Healthcare Reform from the Hard-won Success of Behavioral Health Insurance Parity

We contend that three key lessons from parity are relevant, albeit on a larger scale, to healthcare reform. First, the sooner Congressional leaders can reach agreement on a package of provisions to finance proposed reforms, the better chance they will have to gain buy-in on the structure of insurance expansions. Second, resolving key conflicts with interest groups early and in private could improve the odds of successful reform. Finally, anticipating the issues likely to come up in implementation prior to bill passage could be helpful in averting a second round of political wrangling and uncertainty in the rulemaking phase. PMC ID: PMC2739113 (September 2009)