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Legislative
Summary April 2004 |
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NAMI-Madison County
Legislative UpdateApril 12,
2004 |
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Press Senate for Action on
Wellstone Parity Bill
Outrage Fuels Call-to-Action!
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Parity Bill Languishes: |
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With Congress
moving from debating the budget to working on a legislative agenda,
the Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act (S 486
in the Senate and HR 953 in the House of Representatives) is
still “on hold” even though:
• The
legislation has the support of 69 Senators and 245 House members.
• It has won the endorsement of 361 national organizations.
• A survey commissioned by the National Mental Health Association
showed that an overwhelming majority of Americans (79%) said they
support parity legislation.
Bringing the
parity
bill to a vote would ensure its passage. But despite the
urgings of the bills’ congressional champions, those holding the
reins in Congress have stalled parity’s advance. |
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In November, Senate
leaders assured the parity bill’s sponsors that the bill would be
taken up early this year. Now, however, those assurances have given
way to uncertainty. It has been nearly two years since the President
called on Congress to pass a full-parity bill. Congressional
opponents simply refuse to acknowledge the facts as they repeat the
insurance-industry fiction that a parity law means a substantial
increase in health-insurance premiums. |
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What can you do to help? |
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Send a letter to
each of your U. S. Senators (see sample letter below) and fax it to their
offices. (Call your senators’ offices to request their fax numbers
or visit their Web sites, where a fax number is usually listed.)
Find Your Legislator:
Click Here |
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Use the toll-free
Parity Hotline, 1-866-parity4 (1-866-727-4894), to call your
Senators to urge prompt passage of mental health parity legislation. |
Message:
“I am calling to ask the Senator to press Senators Frist and
Gregg to make mental health parity legislation (S 486) a top
priority for passage early this year. It is outrageous that this
bill has not come to the Senate floor for a vote yet!” |
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Sample Letter:
ADVOCACY
Letter Wellstone Parity Bill |
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Effort Launched to Push for Senate Action
The Senate has
begun a 10-day spring recess during which senators will be in their
home states until April 20. During this time NAMI is launching
an all out effort to help Senators Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Edward
M. Kennedy (D-MA) force action on their bill to require health plans
to cover treatment for mental illness on the same terms and
conditions as all other illnesses - insurance parity.
All NAMI
advocates are strongly encouraged to contact their senators to urge
them to support quick action on mental illness parity legislation,
S 486. Senators should be encouraged to contact Majority
Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) and Health, Education, Labor & Pensions
Committee Chairman Judd Gregg (R-NH)to urge them to bring S 486
to the full Senate for a vote as soon as possible.
Further information on
the Paul
Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act (S 486) is available at the
NAMI National Website in the "Issues Spolight"
section under "About Public Policy".
Thank you for your continuing advocacy on these important issues! |
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You can check this
bill’s wording and status on the
U.S. Congress
Website
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http://thomas.loc.gov/ |
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Any
questions, contact either Sandy Giger at 644-5705,
skgiger@hotmail.com or Mary Gauen
at 288-4376,
katiegauen@aol.com |
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Back To Advocacy |
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