NAMI NEW JERSEY
ADVOCACY NETWORK
ALERT
April 17, 2001
HELP NEEDED FOR FEDERAL
MENTAL HEALTH PARITY LEGISLATION
Introduction
Senators Pete
Domenici (R-NM) and Paul Wellstone (D-MN) have introduced The Mental Health Equitable
Treatment Act of 2001, S. 543. This
bill would bring fuller parity to insurance plans regulated by federal law,
similar to the provisions of the Parity legislation that NAMI spearheaded in
New Jersey. NAMI strongly supports S.
543 as a critical step forward in the process of ending health insurance
discrimination against people with severe mental illness. A bipartisan
coalition in the House, led by Representative Marge Roukema (R-NJ), introduced
a House version of mental health parity legislation (HR 162) January 3,
2001.
The
Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act – The Drive for Full Parity
The Mental
Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2001, S. 543, firmly states that severe
mental illnesses are biologically-based illnesses of the brain and should be
treated like any other medical illness. The bill targets specific adult
and childhood mental illnesses and defines the term "severe
biologically-based mental illnesses" as illnesses determined by medical
science in conjunction with the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders (DSM IV) to be severe and biologically-based. As defined in S.
543, these disorders are: schizophrenia, bipolar disorder (or manic
depression), major depression, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and severe
anxiety disorders.
S. 543 contains
critically important expansions of the 1996 Mental Health Parity Act (its
requirements were limited to equal annual and lifetime dollar limits in health
plans). By requiring that all limitations on the coverage for
"severe biologically-based mental illnesses" be equal to those for
medical and surgical benefits, S. 543 will once and for all end
discrimination. No longer would insurance plans be able to impose
arbitrary caps on inpatient days and outpatient visits. No longer would
health plans be able to charge higher co-payment and deductible requirements
that apply only to treatment for mental illness.
S. 543 also
lowers the current 50-employee small business exemption to 25, thereby
expanding parity coverage to an additional 15 million people. Finally, S.
543 proposes to remove the current September 30, 2001 sunset provision of the
1996 Mental Health Parity Act.
Action
Needed
All NAMI
advocates are urged to contact their Senators Torricelli and Corzine
immediately and urge them to cosponsor S. 543.
Twenty-three Senators have already signed on as cosponsors to S
543. The addition of New Jersey’s two
Senators would result in a majority of Senators in favor of this vital
legislation and all but insure its passage in the Senate.
Washington Contact Information:
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 205100001
Phone: (202)224-4744
Fax: (202)228-2197
District
Contact Information
One Newark Center
14th Floor
Newark, NJ 071025211
Phone: (973)645-3030
Fax: (973)645-0502
URL: http://votecorzine.org/
Washington Contact Information:
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 205100001
Phone: (202)224-3224
Fax: (202)224-8567
URL: http://torricelli.senate.gov/
District
Contact Information
One Riverfront Plaza
3rd Floor
Newark, NJ 071025401
Phone: (973)624-5555
Fax: (973)639-0418
URL: http://torricelli.senate.gov/
Please forward
a copy of your coorespondance to:
Phil Lubitz,
NAMI NEW JERSEY, 1562 Route 130, North Brunswick, NJ 08902
Please distribute this Alert to other advocates for improved
mental health services in New Jersey. If you would like to receive NAMI
NEW JERSEY Advocacy Alerts by email, contact Phil Lubitz, the Advocacy Network
Coordinator at mailto:aminj@sprynet.com
or by phone (732) 940-0991.
NAMI
NEW JERSEY: http://naminj.nami.org/naminj/