Congress moves to end mental health discrimination in disability benefits
H.R. 3758 — Workers’ Disability Benefits Parity Act of 2025 · Filed by Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Jun 5, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill amends federal law governing employer disability insurance plans to require that workers with disabilities caused by mental health conditions receive the same benefits as workers with physical disabilities. Currently, many disability plans impose stricter limits (like shorter benefit duration) on mental health claims than physical injury claims. The bill would eliminate these discriminatory distinctions and ensure parity in coverage.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core mechanism is a straightforward anti-discrimination mandate: it requires disability benefit plans to treat mental health conditions the same as physical conditions. This is a protective labor standard, not a tax provision, subsidy, or deregulation.
What the text implies
- Employers offering self-insured disability plans may face higher claims costs if mental health disability rates are higher than currently reflected in plan design; this could indirectly pressure some employers to reduce overall disability benefit generosity or shift costs to workers.
- The bill references diagnostic criteria from the DSM-5 and ICD-11, which are updated periodically; future revisions to these standards could expand or contract the scope of covered conditions without explicit legislative action.
- State-regulated insurance markets may see premium increases for group disability insurance, potentially affecting small employers' ability to offer coverage; no explicit carve-out or subsidy is provided to offset this.
Who it affects
Workers with mental health disabilities gain equal access to disability benefits they are already paying for through their employers, removing a discriminatory barrier to income protection. Employers may face modest cost increases, but the public benefit—eliminating health-based discrimination in a core worker protection—outweighs private compliance costs.
Who stands to gain
- workers with mental health disabilities (primary beneficiary — not a financial entity)
- mental health treatment providers (potential indirect benefit from increased disability claims enabl
Named in the bill
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), ERISA Advisory Council, Secretary of Labor, American Psychiatric Association, World Health Organization, DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), ICD-11 (International Statistical Classification of Diseases)
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.
- Jun 5, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jun 5, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Education and Workforce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
2 lobbying clients named this bill on 2 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $170,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 64 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 41% of bills with at least one filing.
Mark DeSaulnier, the sponsor, reported $295,607 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Sun Life Financial (u.s.) Services Company Inc. — $150,000 on 1 filing
- National Alliance on Mental Illness — $20,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI scored this bill from its title only — the full text has not been read; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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