November 21, 2006

IMMEDIATE ACTION NEEDED
ON MENTAL HEALTH PARITY

The New Jersey Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee will be holding a hearing on the Comprehensive Mental Health and Substance Abuse Parity bill, S-807 on Monday, November 27, 2006 at 10:00 AM in Committee Room 4, 1st Floor, State House Annex, Trenton. This bill will requires all health insurers and the State Health Benefits Plan to cover treatment for alcoholism and other substance-use disorders under same terms and conditions as for any other diseases or illnesses.

There are many individuals and groups opposed to Comprehensive Parity and we must demonstrate critical support for the bill. Please reach out to family, friends, and the like and have them call or email the members of the committee below as these legislators must hear from as many NJ residents as possible.

Because of the short week due to the Thanksgiving holiday, we are asking that you get a message out right now with the request that they vote YES for S-807! It is essential that the members of this Committee hear that this issue is very important to their constituents. Let the committee members know:

• untreated mental illness costs American businesses, government and families at least $79 billion annually in lost productivity and unemployment, broken lives and broken families, emergency room visits, homelessness and unnecessary use of jails and prisons,
• treatment for mental illness works, if accessible – treatment efficacy rates for most severe mental illnesses exceed those for heart disease and diabetes,
• there is simply no scientific or medical justification for insurance coverage of mental illness treatment to be on different terms and conditions than other diseases,
• discriminatory insurance coverage of mental illness bankrupts families and places a tremendous burden on taxpayers through higher expenditures for public disability and health benefits, chronic homelessness and inappropriate "criminalization" of mental illness.

CALL OR EMAIL MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE NOW!

Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee

Bernard F. Kenny Jr. (Chair) 235 Hudson St., Suite 1 Hoboken, NJ 07030 (201) 653-1466 senkenny@njleg.org Sharpe James (Vice Chair) 50 Park Place, Suite 1535 Newark, NJ 07102 (973) 622-0007 senjames@njleg.org Martha W. Bark 3000 Midlantic Dr., Suite 103 Mt. Laurel, NJ 08054 (856) 234-8080 senbark@njleg.org Anthony R. Bucco 75 Bloomfield Ave., 3rd Floor Denville, NJ 07834 (973) 627-9700 senbucco@njleg.org Joseph Coniglio 205 Robin Rd., Suite 216 Paramus, NJ 07652 (201) 576-9199 senconiglo@njleg.org Joseph V. Doria Jr. 1738 Kennedy Blvd. Jersey City, NJ 07305 (201) 451-5100 sendoria@njleg.org William L. Gormley Hamilton Mall Black Horse Pike, Suite 108 Mays Landing, NJ 08330 (609) 646-3500 sengormley@njleg.org

Walter J. Kavanaugh 76 North Bridge St. Somerville, NJ 08876 (908) 526-4222 senkavanaugh@njleg.org Leonard Lance 119 Main St. Flemington, NJ 08822 (908) 788-6900 senlance@njleg.org Robert E. Littell 25 Route 23 South Franklin, NJ 07416 (973) 827-2900 senlittell@njleg.org Paul A. Sarlo 207 Hackensack St., 2nd Floor Wood-Ridge, NJ 07075 (201) 804-8118 sensarlo@njleg.org Stephen M. Sweeney Kingsway Commons 935 Kings Highway, Suite 400 Thorofare, NJ 08086 (856) 251-9801 sensweeney@njleg.org Shirley K. Turner 1440 Pennington Rd. Ewing, NJ 08618 (609) 530-3277 senturner@njleg.org Joseph F. Vitale 87 Main St. Woodbridge, NJ 07095 (732) 855-7441 senvitale@njleg.org