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Legislative
Summary March 2004 |
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NAMI-Madison County
Legislative UpdateMarch
4, 2004 |
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NAMI Members Urged to Contact
Federal Representatives to Bring
Family Opportunity Act to the Floor
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The Family
Opportunity Act
would enable
families of children with disabilities to buy into the Medicaid
program to obtain coverage for these children. Eligibility is
limited to families with incomes not more than 250 percent of
poverty ($37,550 a year for a family of three and $45,250 for a
family of four) and the children must be under the age of 18 and
must meet the SSI definition of disabled. States may charge
premiums for this coverage on a sliding scale basis. The bill also
would enable more states to use home and community-based care
waivers in the Medicaid program to fund community-based services for
children with mental health disorders.
There are
indications that Speaker Hastert will soon bring the FOA to the
House Floor for a vote. This is an unprecedented opportunity - there
has been great difficulty in bringing this important bill to this
point in the past. NAMI urges advocates to act now to help ensure
that this bill receives proper attention. |
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What can you do
to help? Please contact Hastert's office and your House
representatives and urge them to ask the Speaker of the House -
Dennis Hastert (R-IL)- and the House Majority Leader - Tom DeLay
(R-TX) to bring FOA to the House floor for a vote. Explain to them
that families need help accessing services for children with serious
emotional disturbances and passage of the Family Opportunity Act is
urgently needed. . Also, please contact your Senators and urge them
to ask the Senator Majority Leader Senator Frist (R-TN) to bring FOA
to the Senate floor for a vote. Thanks! |
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Please help by
writing or calling Speaker of the
House, Representative Dennis Hastert. |
J.
Dennis Hastert
Illinois-14th, Republican
235 Cannon HOB
Washington, DC 20515-1314
Phone: (202) 225-2976 |
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Committee Action:
H.R.1811 (the Family Opportunity
Act of 2003) was reviewed by the
Senate Finance Committee last fall (September 2003). It had
widespread bipartisan support in the House and Senate (94 cosponsors
in the House and 63 in the Senate). Plus, a compromise further
paring down the bill has recently been reached and has garnered
additional support for the bill, but the sense among congressional
staff working on the bill is that Rep. Hastert needs some pressure
from his state to encourage him to let the bill go through.
Thanks for your
advocacy. Remember - we need everyone to write - even if you are
not affected by this policy. If we are to create a real mental
health grassroots movement - we need to act on behalf of everyone
affected by mental illness. |
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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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