Advocacy E-News March 10, 2014
March 10, 2014
CONGRATULATIONS – YOUR EFFORTS PAID OFF!
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is abandoning its recent proposal to strip mental health drugs and immunosuppresants of their protected status in Medicare.
Members of the NAMI and the Partnership for Part D Access submitted well over 1,000 comments to CMS opposing the drug restrictions. Grassroots advocacy is one of the most powerful ways to influence public policy – and your efforts have once again demonstrated our collective strength.
Thank you for your hard work! I hope you will take a moment today to celebrate this success. You deserve it.
NAMI HILL DAY WEBINAR INVITATION–TELLING YOUR STORY
NAMI will be hosting a webinar series in preparation for Hill Day on September 4th, 2014. This webinar, the second in the series, will focus on how to effectively tell your story to legislators. Please use the attached worksheets when participating in the webinar and when practicing telling your story.
Registration Instructions:
To register for the webinar you need to click on the link below or copy and paste the link in to your Internet Explorer browser:
https://www.livemeeting.com/lrs/8001651028/Registration.aspx?pageName=s9mlc347sbq2t6vq
First Time Users: You must install Microsoft Office LiveMeeting on your Computer at least one day in advance of the meeting. Click here for more information.
TELL CONGRESS “DON’T CUT SSDI TO PAY FOR UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE!”
The U.S. Senate may resume consideration of legislation to extend federal emergency unemployment compensation benefits – a vital program that Congress must support. Unfortunately, some in Congress continue to push for cuts to Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) to help pay for the proposed extension.
Call your Senators and let them know:
* Don’t cut Social Security to pay for extending Unemployment Insurance! Both programs are important, but Social Security must not become a piggybank.
* Social Security disability beneficiaries who try to work should not be treated differently from other American workers. Unemployment Insurance should be there for them in their time of need. It’s fair and it’s right.
* Cuts to Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) could hurt the financial security of people with significant disabilities and their families.
All Senate Offices can be reached by calling 202-224-3121.
AFFORDABLE CARE ACT MAY HELP NEW JERSEY PARENTS OF ADDICTED TEENS
For many parents, constantly thinking about how they cannot afford care for the mental health and addiction problems of their children is frustrating and demoralizing. The Affordable Care Act has the potential to enable millions of young adults dealing with mental and substance abuse disorders to gain access to treatment. Because of the law, health plans must now cover preventive services like behavioral assessments for children at no cost. And starting in 2014, most plans are not able to deny coverage or charge more due to pre-existing health conditions, including mental illness and addiction disorders.In the past, it was legal for insurance plans to treat such behavioral health disorders differently than medical and surgical needs.
NEARLY 1 IN 5 AMERICANS SUFFERS FROM MENTAL ILLNESS EACH YEAR
Every year, about 42.5 million American adults (or 18.2 percent of the total adult population in the United States) suffers from some mental illness, enduring conditions such as depression, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, statistics released Friday reveal. The data also indicate that approximately 9.3 million adults, or about 4 percent of those Americans ages 18 and up, experience “serious mental illness” – that is, their condition impedes day-to-day activities, such as going to work. Perhaps surprisingly, New Jersey had the lowest national rates of overall and severe mental illness – 14.7 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively.
FIND YOUR LOCAL NAMI
