WASHINGTON–A Bush administration official suggested today that a House-approved bill setting requirements for employer plans with mental health benefits could lead some businesses to drop the mental coverage entirely.

Bradford Campbell, assistant secretary of labor with the Employee Benefits Security Administration, made his comments at the Self Insured Institute of America's Legislative/Regulatory Conference here.

He said the bill would require plans that offer any mental health benefits to expand their offerings to include all diagnoses in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders–forcing self-insured plans to decide between offering no mental health benefits or all mental health benefits.

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