The decision by Gov. Angus King to kill legislation that would have provided improved insurance coverage for mental health problems may not matter much if the news that President Bush is supportive of an even broader “parity” bill proves true. Maine often thinks of itself as a leader in health care questions; the federal change, which already has broad bipartisan support, including all of Maine’s delegation, would leave the King administration in the company of a minority of congressional conservatives.

According to The Washington Post, President Bush plans to give the bill strong support Monday in New Mexico, the home state of sponsor Sen. Pete Domenici. The Republican senator, whose son suffers from schizophrenia, has fought for years to require insurance companies to treat mental illnesses the same as physical illnesses. Given the advances in medical research in recent years that have found biological explanations for illnesses previously considered entirely “mental,” the distinction is not worth making anyway.

The federal plan would replace legislation approved in 1996, which prevented insurers from setting higher annual or lifetime benefit limits on mental health than on other types of illnesses. That legislation expired last fall. The new proposal would reinstate these rules and could expand the number of disorders covered to up to 200 (the Maine legislation vetoed by Gov. King could have covered 40 disorders), though could also exempt employers if health care costs increase by more than 1 to 3 percent, the exact figure is still being debated.

Sen. Olympia Snowe, who sponsored the Medicare Mental Illness Nondiscrimination Act of 2001 and has been a strong supporter of the Domenici proposal, not long ago correctly pointed out, “Studies in Maine and nationally document that both the government and employers will realize substantial mental health savings through implementation of insurance parity. This is legislation that is not only compassionate, but makes sense for those with mental illness.”

That was the plan in Maine, as well. LD 1627 was estimated by the Bureau of Insurance to increase cost four-tenths of 1 percent, while the bill was expected to save money within state departments. Besides being a humanitarian act, mental-health parity has been found to save businesses money by helping them have healthier, more productive employees. These are major reasons that the legislation has gone so far in Congress. With a little more persistence, it may become the law nationwide.