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Last week, Capitol Hill lawmakers achieved two things they are not known for, efficiency and consensus of support on an issue. The mental health parity bill we have been talking about was included in the $700 billion Wall Street bailout legislation.

Even more surprising, mental health parity had virtually unanimous support – in the U.S. House of Representatives, the Senate, and the White House. The new law, now in effect, means over one-third of all Americans with health insurance will start getting better coverage for mental health conditions, wrote The New York Times.

The new coverage is said to start January 1, 2010 for most plans. It is estimated that 113 million people will be getting better mental health coverage, says the Times article.

Initially, health insurance companies and employer groups opposed such legislation. But the bill’s creators, U.S. Senators Pete Domenici, Edward Kennedy, and Michael Enzi, brought all interested parties including mental health advocates to the negotiation table.

These Senators introduced the bill that is now law. One trade group vice president involved in the negotiation says, “It was an incredible process. We built the bill piece by piece from the ground up. It’s a good harbinger for future efforts on health care reform.