Posted by gardenergirl on November 30, 2004, at 22:48:11
In reply to Mixing Politics and Mental Health..., posted by jay on November 30, 2004, at 20:31:42
The last action on Mental Health Parity was that Speaker Hastert would not bring the "Senator Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act" to the floor for a vote. Apparently, the insurance lobbyists speak louder than grassroots advocacy, NAMI, APA and other supportive organizations.
You can make your voice heard on mental health parity by going to www.apapractice.org and signing in with your zip code to the legislative action center on the right hand side of the page. You do not need to be a member of APA to use this feature. There you can send a letter to your elected officials urging support for the Paul Wellstone Memorial Act which would bring mental health parity to our insurance laws.
To put it simply, parity means that insurance companies who offer coverage for mental illness would have to do so at the same level as they do for physical illness. That would be a huge improvement to the system.
Bush made a speech in April of 2002 urging Congress to support the Wellstone Act, but to the best of my knowledge has not spoken of it in any real way since.
Please take a minute to make your voice heard!
gg
poster:gardenergirl
thread:422563
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20041129/msgs/422603.html