From mseereiter at mhanys.org Wed Jun 1 10:41:03 2005 From: mseereiter at mhanys.org (Michael Seereiter) Date: Wed, 1 Jun 2005 10:41:03 -0400 Subject: [Timothy's Team] Action Alert - Phone in for Timothy's Law Thursday Message-ID: PHONE IN FOR TIMOTHY'S LAW Thursday, June 2nd This week call your New York State Senator Tell your Senator to enact Timothy's Law. It's the right thing to do call the Senate switchboard and ask to be connected to your Senator 518-455-2800 (to find out who your senator is -- http://map01.elections.state.ny.us/boe/main.asp) The legislative session is scheduled to end in three weeks. Now is the time to pass Timothy's Law. We can't wait any longer. For more information: Ruth Foster 518-432-0333x15 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mseereiter at mhanys.org Wed Jun 1 14:37:14 2005 From: mseereiter at mhanys.org (Michael Seereiter) Date: Wed, 1 Jun 2005 14:37:14 -0400 Subject: [Timothy's Team] Phone-in for Timothy's Law - Thursday, June 2nd Message-ID: PHONE IN FOR TIMOTHY'S LAW Thursday, June 2nd This week call your New York State Senator Tell your Senator to enact Timothy's Law. It's the right thing to do call the Senate switchboard and ask to be connected to your Senator 518-455-2800 (to find out who your senator is -- http://map01.elections.state.ny.us/boe/main.asp) The legislative session is scheduled to end in three weeks. Now is the time to pass Timothy's Law. We can't wait any longer. For more information: Ruth Foster 518-432-0333x15 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mseereiter at mhanys.org Wed Jun 1 14:41:49 2005 From: mseereiter at mhanys.org (Michael Seereiter) Date: Wed, 1 Jun 2005 14:41:49 -0400 Subject: [Timothy's Team] FW: My latest post Message-ID: Following is Tom O'Clair's latest posting to the Timothy's Law message board at www.timothyslaw.org. -----Original Message----- From: Thomas O'Clair Sent: Wednesday, June 01, 2005 12:39 PM Here we are in the month of June. After playing nice and giving the Senate majority the chance to "do whats right", (quote from Ken Ridet, Senator Brunos senior aide) I find myself getting nervous with little or no word from behind the Senates doors and only three weeks left for this years session. I would ask that all party's, interested in seeing Timothy's Law become reality, participate in a phone in starting tommorrow. Call your Senators office in Albany and their home office and tell them you support and want Timothy's Law to become reallity THIS YEAR. (see the web site to find your senator) Call every day, don't let them tell you they support and/or sponsor Timothy's Law, there is no Timothy's Law in the Senate this year. When they say they sponsored it in the past, ask (if they are Republican Majority members) why did they vote against the motion to amend last years substandard bill with Timothy's LAw. Ask why, after having more than enough bi-partisan support as well as majority support, they didn't request Senator Bruno bring it to the floor for a vote. Remind them that they work for YOU and represent YOUR intrests and needs, NOT special interest groups with high payed lobbists who donate to their war chests for election time. The fight between Money and Morality is a hard one, but it's one we can win together. Thank You Tom O'Clair TOM O'C From mseereiter at mhanys.org Wed Jun 8 10:24:58 2005 From: mseereiter at mhanys.org (Michael Seereiter) Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2005 10:24:58 -0400 Subject: [Timothy's Team] Updated Version of Timothy's Law Unveiled Message-ID: On Monday at an 11:00 press conference in Albany, members of the Timothy's Law Campaign unveiled an updated version of Timothy's Law that we hope will pave the way to passage of the bill in the NYS Legislature this year. Primarily, the updated bill addresses the concerns that have been raised by those concerned about the impact Timothy's Law might have on the ability of small business owners to continue to afford health insurance for their employees. In addition, the Timothy's Law Campaign showed members of the press the 30-second Timothy's Law TV spot that features images from Timothy O'Clair's childhood and a voiceover by his father, Tom. Following is the Timothy's Law Campaign press release from Monday. Several television stations, radio stations and newspapers picked up the news, lending further to Timothy's Law's public visability. Immediately following this e-mail will be another e-mail detailing this week's Call-In, scheduled for Thursday, June 9th. Timothy's Law Campaign Working for health insurance parity for mental health and chemical dependency coverage 15 Elk Street, Albany, New York 12207 518-432-0333 fax 518-434-6478 www.TimothysLaw.org PRESS RELEASE Timothy's Law Campaign Unveils Updated Bill that Addresses Small Business Concerns Group Also Unveils Timothy's Law Ad set to Air on Stations Throughout New York For over a decade, advocates have been working to secure passage of legislation that would end discriminatory insurance practices levied against individuals suffering from mental illness. Three years ago, a name and a face were given to those efforts and most unfortunately it was the face of a twelve-year old boy named Timothy O'Clair, who, after struggling with mental illness for five of his twelve short years, took his own life in March of 2001. While struggling with his illness, Timothy's parents, Tom and Donna O'Clair found themselves to be in a battle for their son's life on two levels; stabilizing Timothy's condition and securing the treatment necessary to accomplish this. As they attempted to maneuver through the mental health system, Timothy's parents were astonished to discover that, unlike treatment for physical health care, health insurers and HMO's in New York State are allowed to restrict treatment for mental illness however they see fit. The result of these practices forced the O'Clair family down a road of rationing Timothy's treatment. Eventually, as a result of these limitations, and as a last ditch effort to obtain care for Timothy, the O'Clair's were forced to relinquish custody of him to the state. Unfortunately, in the end, the family's efforts were in vain, as Timothy completed his suicide at the tender age of twelve. However, the O'Clair's war was far from over as they joined in the crusade to end discriminatory insurance practices and lent the movement Timothy's name. Opposition to Timothy's Law has long since revolved around the belief that passing such a measure will negatively impact small businesses in New York State, citing that increasing access to mental health benefits will also increase premiums, causing small businesses to drop insurance all together. Legislators have heard this message and as a result, New Yorkers with mental illness are still struggling to access treatment. The Timothy's Law Campaign (TLC) has heard this message as well and as a result, the have come up with a solution. After many months of work, TLC has updated their version of Timothy's Law to address the concerns of the small business community. This updated version of Timothy's Law will provide New Yorkers in need of mental health and addiction treatment access to services without placing an undue burden on small employers. The bill represents a significant compromise on the part of the Timothy's Law supporters to address the concerns of small employers. "Our intention is not, and has never been to create a burden on the small business community in New York State. Our goal is to prevent families from experiencing the additional pain and suffering that our family has undergone. While the bill doesn't go quite as far as we would like in completely eliminating discriminatory health insurance policies, I think it represents a fair compromise to those who have expressed concern while at the same time sparing other families from unnecessary anguish, hence, I am proud to lend my son's name to this bill" stated Tom O'Clair. Paige Macdonald, Executive Director of Families Together in New York State and Co-chair of the TLC, called it, "a good faith effort on our part to genuinely address the concerns that many have had regarding the impact of Timothy's Law on small businesses." The Coalition for the Homeless' Shelly Nortz, a key contributor to the creation of the updated bill, explained how it would work. "First, we believe that the current benefit structure provided by most health plans must be codified to establish a base benefit - a floor, if you will, to even the playing field. With this cornerstone, no plan could provide less than the base benefit - the practice of charging exponentially higher co-payments for mental health and addiction services would finally come to an end. Building on this universal foundation, employers with more than 50 employees would be required to provide complete parity-based benefits, and employers with 50 or fewer employees would be provided with the option to purchase the same benefits that larger employers would be required to provide. For those small employers that choose not to subscribe to the additional coverage, a financial safety net would be in place should any of their employees need more than the base amount of inpatient care provided by their insurance plan. Such employees facing a catastrophic situation such as foreclosure, bankruptcy, eviction, or child custody relinquishment would qualify for help in covering extraordinary costs for inpatient care. We think this package is a prescription for success." The press conference concluded with the unveiling of a 30-second television spot, featuring images from Timothy O'Clair's childhood and a voice over by Timothy's father, Tom O'Clair. The TV spot, viewable at www.timothyslaw.org, explains what happened to the O'Clair family, the barriers they faced in trying to get Timothy the mental health services he needed, and urges people to call Governor Pataki, Senate Majority Leader Bruno and Speaker Silver to call for passage of Timothy's Law this year. # -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: clip_image002.jpg Type: image/jpeg Size: 2882 bytes Desc: not available URL: From mseereiter at mhanys.org Wed Jun 8 10:27:45 2005 From: mseereiter at mhanys.org (Michael Seereiter) Date: Wed, 8 Jun 2005 10:27:45 -0400 Subject: [Timothy's Team] Timothy's Law Call-In - Thursday, June 9th Message-ID: Thank you to everyone who called your Senator last week. The calls are getting noticed. Please call again this week! PHONE IN FOR TIMOTHY'S LAW Thursday, June 9th Call Senate Majority Leader Bruno at 518-455-3191 Call Assembly Speaker Silver at 518-455-3791 Tell them: "Don't leave Albany without enacting Timothy's Law!" The legislative session is scheduled to end on June 23rd. Time is running out. We can't wait any longer. For more information: Ruth Foster 518-432-0333 x15 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: clip_image002.gif Type: image/gif Size: 64386 bytes Desc: not available URL: From mseereiter at mhanys.org Fri Jun 17 14:42:51 2005 From: mseereiter at mhanys.org (Michael Seereiter) Date: Fri, 17 Jun 2005 14:42:51 -0400 Subject: [Timothy's Team] Take 5 for Timothy! Message-ID: TAKE 5 FOR TIMOTHY! Please Take 5 Minutes to Call Your Senator and Assemblymember Each Day Between Now and the End of Session Next Week to Urge them to Negotiate a Version of Parity Legislation Tom O'Clair Would be Proud to Call Timothy's Law Senate Switchboard 518-455-2800 Assembly Switchboard 518-455-4100 Ask for Your Representative. Don't know? Go to http://map01.elections.state.ny.us/boe/main.asp. Tell them: "Don't leave Albany without having negotiated and enacted a version of parity legislation Tom O'Clair would be proud to call Timothy's Law!" And to illustrate that support for Timothy's Law remains strong, following is the most recent newspaper editorial in support of our efforts to enact mental health and addiction parity legislation. Mental illness needs insurance Poughkeepsie Journal Editorial June 12, 2005 A compromise plan on mental health insurance should be thoroughly reviewed by the Legislature before it adjourns for summer break. New Yorkers deserve no less. Mental illness is a disease with huge fiscal and emotional impacts. Providing adequate treatment is not only morally responsible but it is also fiscally beneficial Unlike 36 other states, New York does not require insurance carriers to provide mental health coverage. Deep differences have divided Assembly and Senate versions of a bill to require insurance carriers to treat mental illness in the same way it treats physical illnesses. The Assembly has resoundly supported the effort for the past two years, while the Senate continues to have concerns about its effect on the business community, particularly small companies. The compromise plan unveiled last week allows companies with fewer than 50 employees to opt into the plan, rather than require mandatory participation. That is a fair approach that would at least allow the majority of insured New Yorkers to receive the coverage they need when it comes to mental illness. Currently, most insurance plans limit mental health coverage to a maximum stay, and set number of doctor visits, regardless of the diagnoses. That's not how any illness should be treated. Imagine limiting the number of chemotherapy treatments for a cancer patient. These limits leave patients and their families struggling to afford needed care. The Assembly bill, Timothy's Law, is named for Timothy O'Clair of Schenectady, who hanged himself just shy of his 13th birthday. Since he was 8 years old, his family had been dealing with his mental illness. Insurance limitations made consistent care impossible and attempts to pay privately simply couldn't continue. Finally, like 3,500 other families in New York, the O'Clairs signed their child over to the state so he could receive comprehensive medical care under Medicaid. Progress was made, and after months in an inpatient facility, he came home. But the disease again took over. The anger and rage returned. And one night, after a fight about taking his medications, he went to his room and the troubled child found permanent refuge by hanging himself from the clothes bar in his closet. His mother discovered him, dead, a few hours later. The family insists if medical coverage had been available, their son would have been helped instead of committing suicide. A study by PricewaterhouseCoopers says parity, having insurance coverage that treats mental illness the same as a physical illness, will cost an additional 1.6 percent, or $15 a year per person. Insurance industry experts says it could increase premiums 3.5 percent although states with parity, have discovered no discernible impact on businesses. If a society is judged on how it cares for its most vulnerable citizens, New York has lots of room for improvements, starting with the medical coverage it provides for the mentally ill. The Legislature needs to address this disparity. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From mseereiter at mhanys.org Fri Jun 24 15:27:51 2005 From: mseereiter at mhanys.org (Michael Seereiter) Date: Fri, 24 Jun 2005 15:27:51 -0400 Subject: [Timothy's Team] A Sad Year for Timothy's Law Message-ID: As the Senate and Assembly are feverishly wrapping up the loose ends on a variety of issues before they leave Albany for the summer (possibly to return at some later date in the year), Timothy's Law supporters are disappointed that our bill, that would prevent tragedies like Timothy's from happening to others, is not amongst those issues being ironed out. While there was a valiant effort put forth by members of the Timothy's Law Campaign and supporters from throughout the state in the last few days of session, our goal was not realized, leaving millions of New Yorkers without the mental health and addiction coverage they deserve. This last week of the Legislative Session proved to be quite a roller coaster of progress and emotions for those present at the Capitol.. There were extreme highs when it looked as though some version of parity legislation would become a reality and other times when that reality stung us. The last minute rush all began late Friday when Assemblymember Paul Tonko made a phone call to Senator Tom Libous. Assemblymember Tonko's phone call prompted a visit to the Assembly chamber by Senator Libous, which resulted in a productive conversation between the two legislators where both expressed their desire to get something done for individuals living with mental health and addiction disorders. As Monday became Tuesday, and Tuesday became Wednesday, members of the Timothy's Law Campaign, under the leadership of the NYS Psychiatric Association's representatives, Richard Gallo and Karin Moran, entered into intense negotiations with Senator Libous and members of the Senate Majority Leader's staff. The efforts on the part of all of these parties to reach some sort of agreement that would be worthy of bearing Timothy's name was impressive and noteworthy. Significant chunks of 14+ hour days were dedicated to this effort, but unfortunately met with no success. In the Assembly, there were no discussions or negotiations in an effort to find common ground with the Senate. On Monday, the bill that the Assembly has passed for a number of years, and that the Senate has refused to pass, A.2912, passed the Assembly once again, by a vote of 130-10 (Bacalles, Barclay, Barraga, Crouch, Fitzpatrick, Kolb, Nesbitt, Oaks, O'Mara, Schimminger voted 'no'). Knowing how strongly Assemblymember Tonko and other members of the Assembly believe in the concept behind Timothy's Law, we look forward to working with both sides later this year (if the Legislature returns) to negotiate a bill worthy of bearing Timothy's name. WHAT'S THIS ALL ABOUT? The dynamic at hand that has delayed the passage of Timothy's Law for the past several years is in the fact that there are two diametrical philosophical beliefs held by the respective Majority parties in each house of the NYS Legislature with regard to insurance coverage as it relates to small businesses. In the Assembly, there is a deeply rooted belief that benefits or enhancement should be available and cover everyone, and should not be made available exclusively to one subset of people. With Timothy's Law, the Assembly's Democratic Majority holds firm to a belief that providing the employees of larger employers (50+ employees) with enhanced mental health and addiction benefits without providing the same benefit to the employees of large employers is simply discrimination. So far, they have been unwilling to pass a version of Timothy's Law that does not cover the employees of small employers equally to the employees of large employers. In the Senate, the Republican Majority in that house believes just as strongly that small employers (less than 50 employees) are not capable of absorbing the cost increase associated with any additional mental health and addiction benefit. Their concerns lie with the impact that an onerous cost associated with a mental health and addiction benefit enhancement could have on the ability of those business owners to continue to afford health insurance for their employees. So far, they have been unwilling to pass legislation that they believe will negatively impact small businesses and their ability to continue to provide health insurance to their employees. Who's right? The truth is that there are legitimate concerns and points that both parties hold. In the mean time, as the politicking and posturing continues, there is a little girl in Western New York who recently ran out of inpatient benefits and a man here in the Capital District who took his own life on Tuesday. Could they have been helped if insurance restrictions on mental health and addiction services had been lifted? The answer is a resounding 'YES', but still we have no law. Thanks to everyone who called, wrote and e-mailed their legislators every day in this last week of session. While we were unsuccessful in getting Timothy's Law passed this year, your efforts got us closer to passage of Timothy's Law than we've ever been before. You are encouraged to weigh in with your elected representatives to express your disappointment that Timothy's Law did not become reality this year. Stay tuned for future Timothy's Team e-mail updates and visit the Timothy's Law website at www.timothyslaw.org for the latest on the effort to enact mental health and addiction services insurance parity. Continuing to work together, we will succeed in ending this discrimination. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: