(My prior posts on the subject of mental health parity are available here, here, and here. Jill Miller Zimon’s update can be found here.)
Last week, the Tourette Syndrome Association (TSA) alerted its supporters that we were nearing a milestone in the long fight to establish parity on insurance coverage of mental and physical disorders.
The competing House and Senate bills have now been resolved in committee, and the revised, unified bill could be up for a re-vote in House and Senate as early as next month, when Congress returns from its annual August recess and the 2008 major-party conventions.
Accordingly, I took some time yesterday to ping the relevant staff of our two Senators, Claire McCaskill (D) and Kit Bond (R); and our Congressman, Todd Akin (R) — expressing our hope that their bosses will vote for the compromise bill.
Sen. McCaskill’s staff already responded that we could count on her support — and I have reason to be believe we might also gain support from the two Republicans. Bond frequently lends support to health-related bills, and Akin told a group of TS families in July (of which we were one) that he was willing to support a version of the bill closer to the Senate’s last-approved version. Hopefully, the committee’s compromise strikes the balance he seeks.
If you’re inclined, please write your members of Congress, encouraging their support for this important legislation. And, as you consider doing so, please keep these points in mind …
(1) If you think “mental health” is “all in the head,” think again.
I used to feel the same way, until we dealt with a family member with a neurological disorder complicated by other factors. Had we, our doctors, and/or our insurance company approached that challenge as “all in the head,” a young man — who is now healthy and on track — would have suffered needlessly, and perhaps never established himself as a contributing member of society.
(2) If you think this legislation will create a huge new cost burden on either insurance companies or the feds, think again.
Our government’s decision to provide parity to federal employees, as part of their health insurance plans, did not have a material impact on total program costs.
In short, the bill is a sensible, just, and critical piece of legislation. Our elected leaders have parsed the details, debated, and compromised. Now is the time for them to put aside any remaining differences and send this bill with a strong showing of Congressional support to the President’s desk for signature. Please encourage them to do just that, on behalf of all the families that have witnessed the real-life parity between mental and physical disease.
You can find contact details for your Congressman here.
You can find contact details for your Senators here.