USA - URGENT ATTENTION! Campaign: Addiction Recovery Insurance Equity

[~lostgurl~]

Your advocacy over the next week is critical as we enter the final stages of our campaign to end insurance discrimination facing people with addiction and mental illness.

WHERE WE ARE TODAY:

The House Energy and Commerce Committee and its Health Subcommittee must amend or “mark up” The Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007, H.R. 1424, before it can come to the full House for a vote. They will be meeting on October 10th and October 17th respectively.
The Senate has passed S. 558, the “Mental Health Parity Act of 2007,” a bill that is weaker than H.R. 1424. Here’s a comparison between the Senate bill (Manager’s amendment) and H.R. 1424.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

1) Send a Letter to the Editor to your local newspaper this week to build public support for Congressional action on The Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007. Use our sample letter to the editor.

2) Email your Representative and ask him or her to work with Representatives Jim Ramstad (R-MN) and Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) to pass the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act (H.R. 1424) this year.

BACKGROUND:

The US House of Representatives and US Senate are moving forward to limit insurance discrimination faced by people with addiction and mental illness. The Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act, H.R. 1424, has been “reported out” or passed by the full House Ways and Means Committee, by a vote of 27 to 13. The vote largely followed party lines with Representatives Ramstad (R-MN), English (R-PA) and Weller (R-IL) the only Republicans voting with the Democrats to report out the bill. In the House, the next step is a “mark up” before the House Energy and Commerce committee. This is the third and final committee with jurisdiction over the bill. If the committee approves the bill, the House Rules Committee will iron out the differences between the three committees with jurisdiction over the bill before it moves to the House floor for a vote.

Because the Senate has passed a different bill, after the House passes H.R. 1424, there will need to be a conference committee, where the differences between the two bills are ironed out. The “conferenced” bill will then need to be passed by the House and the Senate before going to President Bush for his signature.

HERE’S WHY H.R. 1424 IS THE BETTER BILL:

1. Offers the same coverage for mental illness and addiction treatment services as Members of Congress currently receive
2. Permits patients to see out-of-network specialists
3. Protects current stronger state laws
4. Provides coverage for all mental illnesses and addictive disorders
5. Patients will know beforehand what is covered by their health plan

HERE’S WHY THE SENATE BILL MUST BE IMPROVED:

1. Americans would receive fewer benefits than Members of Congress receive
2. It's not true equality: health plans are not required to offer coverage for mental illness and addiction in parity with other diseases
3. It blocks access to out-of-network specialists, even if recommended by a doctor
4. It increases the threat of costly lawsuits
5. It takes medical decisions out of the hands of doctors and put them in the hands of health plans.
6. It allows deceptive and misleading barriers to care that prevent patients from knowing what is covered under their health plan

Thank you for your advocacy!

http://www.facesandvoicesofrecovery....gns/equity.php