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Wellstone Parity Bill
Sample Letter: [We encourage you to customize the text to describe the significance of this legislation to your own circumstances]. The Honorable
(full name) Dear Senator (last name): I am writing to ask that you press Senators Frist and Gregg to take up and bring to a vote the “Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act” (S. 486). It is outrageous that this bipartisan legislation has languished for so long despite widespread insurance discrimination that denies people needed mental health care. Mental illness is the second leading cause of disability and premature death in this country. Yet, every day families with "good insurance" discover that their loved ones cannot get the care they need, because their health insurance imposes arbitrary limits on needed mental health treatment. Insurance barriers to medically necessary mental health treatment inflict enormous harm on American families...and on our economy. They often cause mental health disorders to go untreated and worsen. Tragically, lack of needed treatment leads all too often to job loss, broken homes, school failure and even suicide. Untreated mental illness also costs our economy at least $80 billion annually -- in lost productivity, sick leave and unemployment. The bipartisan Wellstone bill -- requiring simple parity between mental health benefits and the benefits provided to treat any other illness or injury – will save lives and families. As actual experience has shown, mental health parity legislation will not lead to a significant increase in insurance premiums or in the number of uninsured Americans. However the costs of not enacting parity are high, and fall most heavily on taxpayer-funded public programs, our economy, and the well-being of American families and their communities. With 69 Senators, 245 House members and 360 organizations supporting full mental health parity, inaction is inexcusable. Please urge the Senate Leadership to make passage of a strong mental health parity bill a top priority. Sincerely,
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