17157. SENATOR PAUL WELLSTONE MENTAL HEALTH EQUITABLE TREATMENT ACT OF 2003. Introduced into both the House (H.R. 953) and the Senate (S.486) on February 27, 2003, the Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act is a bill “to provide for equal coverage of mental health benefits with respect to health insurance coverage unless comparable limitations are imposed on medical surgical benefits.” Taking a policy advocacy perspective, this paper provides an overview of this proposed legislation and an analysis of the underlying policy issue. Using Jansson’s (2003) framework, potential interventions and techniques to support the bill and/or empower others to take action on mental health parity are discussed. Written 2003. 15 pages; 27 footnotes; 19 bibliographic sources. 4,035 words.