-----Original Message-----
From: PublicPolicy [mailto:PublicPolicy@...]
Sent: February 13, 2007 6:45 PM
To: tld4513@...
Subject: Act Now to End Discrimination Against Mental Illnesses!

 

 

Public Policy Alert

Bipartisan Group of Senators Introduce Mental Health Parity Legislation – Senate Committee to Vote on Bill Ending Insurance Discrimination

On February 12, a bipartisan group of senators, Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM), Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) and Mike Enzi (R-WY), introduced legislation to require employers and health plans to equally cover treatment for mental illness. This legislation, known as the Mental Health Parity Act of 2007 (S. 558), would expand an existing 1996 federal law and prohibit employers and health plans from imposing durational treatment limits and financial limitations on coverage for mental illness that do not apply to all other medical conditions.

Action Required

CHADD strongly urges you to contact your Senators and ask them to support and cosponsor S. 558.

Contact Your Senate Offices with the following message:
• Mental illnesses like AD/HD and depression are real and impact the lives of millions of Americans
• Treatment is effective and saves lives
• There is no justification for a health plan to impose limits or conditions on coverage that do not apply to all other illnesses, and
• After nearly 15 years of delay, it is time for the Senate finally pass parity legislation.

How to contact your Senators

• Email – We’ve made contacting your Senators as easy as 1-2-3

1)       Go to http://capwiz.com/chadd/issues/alert/?alertid=9370011&type=CO or the CHADD Legislative Action Center at www.chadd.org and click on Influence Policy, then click on “Legislative Action Center.”

 

2)       Fill out the form

 

3)       Hit Send Message

 

• Phone calls – All Senate offices can be reached through the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 (this is NOT a toll-free call) or avoid long distance charges by getting the phone numbers of each Senator’s state offices in the Blue Pages of your local phone book.

Immediate Senate HELP Committee Action

Senator Kennedy, the Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, is planning to move S. 558 out of the Committee and to the full Senate on February 14. This effort is supported by Senator Mike Enzi, the Ranking Republican on the HELP Committee. This plan for quick action clearly demonstrates the strong commitment that all 3 senators have for bringing this measure forward in 2007.

It is especially important that all Senators on the HELP Committee hear from CHADD members both before, and after, the Committee acts on February 14.