NMHA Legislative Alert February 2002

House of Reps Focus of Renewed Parity Battle

Need for Personal Stories to Put Human Face on Parity

February 5, 2002

Gearing up for parity fight:

With Congress back in session, NMHA has reiterated to key House offices that mental health advocates were deeply disappointed that parity legislation was defeated in December, and are counting on Congress to enact a strong mental health parity bill this year. We have been voicing that message, office by office, to members of the authorizing committees in the House of Representatives (the Committees on Energy & Commerce, Education & the Workforce, and Ways & Means), whose chairmen pressured their appropriations committee colleagues to reject the Senate-adopted parity  amendment because it had bypassed their committees. We are reminding members of those committees of the strong direction on parity legislation that the appropriations conference committee gave their colleagues in a report on the Labor/HHS funding bill:

The conferees recognize the devastating impact of mental illnesses on Americans from every walk of life and the widespread bipartisan support of mental health parity legislation in both houses of Congress. The conferees strongly urge the committees of jurisdiction of the House and the Senate to convene early hearings and undertake swift consideration of legislation to extend and improve mental health parity protections during the second session of the 107th Congress.

Early hearings Important:

While our meetings with staff of the House authorizing committees confirm that parity is on their radar screen and they are exploring holding hearings, it is important that hearings be convened early enough to permit timely action on parity legislation. Our visits are re-emphasizing that parity advocacy isn’t going away. But we recognize that, for purposes of scheduling hearings, parity will also compete with other issues for legislators’ attention during what will be a short legislative year. With that in mind, we are urging Senate leaders to bring the Senate parity bill, which was not taken up as a free-standing bill last year, up for an early vote.

Grassroots action key:

Since Members of Congress are also hearing from the business community about double-digit increases in medical costs (which makes some Members skittish about so-called new mandates on a voluntary benefit), mental health advocates cannot take for granted the strength of our case. Grassroots advocacy will be critical to (1) make parity more than just an issue this year, but a priority for early action, (2) persuade your Member of Congress that parity is an important issue not just for mental health advocates but for many of their constituents; and (3) put a human face on the parity issue to help Members see and understand the real impact of insurance discrimination on people and make it a compelling personal concern.

Action Needed:

1. Please write to your Member of Congress to urge early hearings on mental health parity legislation (see attached letter). Letters must still be faxed, because of the disruption to the congressional mail system following the anthrax scare. Follow up the letter with a phone call.
   
2. Particularly in the case of Members of the authorizing committees (see attached list), who have not cosponsored parity legislation last year, look for ways to bring this issue home to the Member in a personal way, such as by meeting with the Member when he/she is back in the district. Include other parity advocates in such meetings and make sure to illustrate what lack of parity means to the Member’s constituents by providing a compelling example of the impact of insurance discrimination on a constituent. If possible, also enlist support in lobbying your Representative from organizations and individuals outside the mental health community: to include law enforcement personnel, educators, businesses, friends of the Member, etc.
   
3. Please share with us (e-mail to ribson@nmha.org) narrative "case accounts" of people who have been victims of mental health insurance discrimination. This is a powerful way to put a "human face on insurance discrimination and to help make parity a compelling issue to those Members of Congress who have not yet responded to our messages. Such statements (ideally written by a consumer or family member) would provide some insight on the person's background (education, work history, etc), when the person became ill, the individual’s experience with efforts to get treatment through insurance, the specific limitations which his/her insurance imposed, the impact limited insurance coverage had, and how a parity law would likely have changed the situation.

Targets:

The following Members of Congress, particularly those who did NOT cosponsor the House parity legislation (cosponsors of H.R. 162 are designated below with an asterisk *) and are members of the Committees having jurisdiction of that legislation should be targets of vigorous advocacy. (Democrats are listed in italics.):

House Committee on Energy and Commerce:

Billy Tauzin (Houma & New Iberia, LA), Chairman

Vito Fossella (Staten Island, NY)

John Dingell (Dearborn, MI), Ranking Minority Member

*Edolphus Towns (Brooklyn, NY)

*Eliot Engel (Bronx & Yonkers, NY)

House Committee on Education and the Workforce

John Boehner (Hamilton, OH), Chairman

*George Miller (Concord, CA), Ranking Minority Member

*Major Owens (Brooklyn, NY)

*Carolyn McCarthy (Hempstead, NY)

House Committee on Ways and Means

William Thomas (Bakersfield, CA), Chairman

Nancy Johnson (New Britain, CT), Chairman, Subcommittee on Health

Amo Houghton (Corning, NY)

Charles Rangel (Manhattan, NY), Ranking Minority Member

*Michael McNulty (Albany, NY)

If you have any questions regarding parity, please notify Ralph Ibson (ribson@nmha.org; 202-675-8388).

Dear Representative __________:

As a registered voter living in ________________, I am writing to ask you to press for hearings on mental health insurance parity legislation early this year. Please contact Chairmen Boehner, Tauzin, and Thomas to urge that they give a high priority to scheduling hearings before their respective committees on legislation to end mental health insurance discrimination and to moving such legislation early in the session.

Your support would reinforce the call for action on parity in the House-Senate Conference Report (House Report 107-342) on the FY 2002 Labor-Health and Human Services-Education Appropriations bill:

The conferees recognize the devastating impact of psychiatric disabilities on Americans from every walk of life and the widespread bipartisan support of mental health parity legislation in both houses of Congress. The conferees strongly urge the committees of jurisdiction of the House and the Senate to convene early hearings and undertake swift consideration of legislation to extend and improve mental health parity protections during the second session of the 107th Congress.

Americans have come to appreciate the importance of mental health and the stinging inequity of insurance barriers to needed treatment. Insurance discrimination against people with psychiatric disabilities simply cannot be justified because:

Treatment for psychiatric disabilities is effective, with efficacy rates comparable or exceeding those for many medical and surgical conditions.

There is no scientific or medical basis that justifies insurance coverage of mental health disorders on different terms and conditions than coverage for other illnesses or disorders.

Lack of access to mental health treatment as a result of insurance discrimination costs our economy more than $100 billion each year through absenteeism, turnover and retraining expenses, lower productivity, and increased medical costs.

Parity is affordable, as evidenced by the experience of the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program (which provides full parity for Members of Congress and their families and staff) and the experience of the many states which have enacted parity laws.

We look forward to working with you to achieve early passage of mental health parity legislation this year.

Sincerely,

This "Mental Health E-News" posting is a service of the New York Ass'n of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services, a statewide coalition of people who use and/or provide community mental health services dedicated to improving services and social conditions for people with psychiatric disabilities by promoting their recovery, rehabilitation and rights.

Opinions expressed in this web site do not necessarily reflect the views of NAMI Santa Cruz County, NAMI California or any affiliated organizations.  We attempt to present a balanced perspective on issues by presenting multiple viewpoints.

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