[Timothy's Team] Updated Version of Timothy's Law Unveiled

Wed Jun 8 10:24:58 EDT 2005

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
<http://www.timothyslaw.org/> 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. 

#

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