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Urgent Action Needed
Senate-Passed Mental Health Parity Moves to Conference
Aggressive Grassroots Action Needed to Win Enactment
As you know, on October 30th, the U.S. Senate passed the Mental Health
Equitable Treatment Act, by voice vote, as an amendment to the Fiscal
Year 2002 Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and Education
Appropriations Act (Labor-HHS-Education).
A conference committee of House and Senate members charged with
resolving differences in the two chambers' Labor-HHS-Education funding
bills is providing the forum for the deliberations on mental health
parity. The success of Sens. Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Paul Wellstone
(D-MN) in passing the amendment on an appropriations bill now brings
additional players into deciding the fate of mental health parity.
Because the House of Representatives may oppose retention of the
amendment in the final
conference bill, grassroots efforts are CRITICAL to our success.
BACKGROUND: Although members of the House Appropriations Committee are
the appointed conferees, other House members will also play an important
role in deliberations on mental health parity. Three different
committees in the House, listed below, have jurisdiction over elements
of mental health parity legislation. Although neither of these
committees has acted on parity legislation during this session of
Congress, members of these committees will likely be consulted as to
their views on the issue.
HOUSE BILL: The House parity bill, the Mental Health and Substance Abuse
Parity Amendments (H.R. 162) currently has 179 cosponsors, including 24
Republicans. It is critical that we work to have more House members
cosponsor the bill to signal to the conferees overwhelming support in
the House for enactment of mental health parity.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: By COB on Wednesday, November 14, constituents of
targeted
House members should use the toll-free parity "legislative
hotline" at 1-866-PARITY4 (1-866-727-4894) to reach the Capitol
switchboard and ask for their Representative's office by name. When
connected, ask for the health legislative assistant and deliver the
message below. This matter is urgent, as the conference may end as soon
as November 16th. If you don't know who your Representative is, visit
AMHCA's website at http://www.amhca.org
and click on the Public Policy button. In the Zip and Go section, type
in your zip code. A screen with the federal elected officials for your
state will appear. You can also e-mail your representative from this
screen.
TARGETS: (names listed below)
Members of the House Appropriation's Committee to urge them to accept
the Senate mental health parity amendment. The chairman and ranking
Democratic member of these House committees (Education and the
Workforce, Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means) to urge them to work
with Appropriations conferees to accept the Senate parity amendment.
Other Representatives should be urged to cosponsor H.R. 162 if they have
not already. Cosponsors of H.R. 162 can be found at the following link:
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d107:HR00162:@@@P
MESSAGE: "I'm calling to urge the Representative to work with
Labor-HHS-Education Appropriation's conferees to accept the Senate's
mental health parity amendment. This legislation will help families and
others affected by mental illness by banning arbitrary limits on needed
mental health services."
KEY TARGETS:
Below is a list of key members to target. Cosponsors of H.R. 162 are
indicated; members who are listed in all capital letters are especially
important.
ALABAMA:
Rep. Sonny Callahan (R)
Rep. Bob Aderholt (R)
Rep. Bud Cramer (D) (cosponsor)
ALASKA:
SEN. TED STEVENS (R)
ARIZONA:
Rep. Jim Kolbe (R) (cosponsor)
Rep. Ed Pastor (D) (cosponsor)
CALIFORNIA:
REP. RANDY CUNNINGHAM (R)
Rep. Sam Farr (D) (cosponsor)
Rep. John Doolittle (R)
Rep. Jerry Lewis (R)
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D) (cosponsor)
Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D) (cosponsor)
REP. GEORGE MILLER (D) (Education & Workforce Ranking Democrat)
REP. BILL THOMAS (R) (Ways & Means Chairman)
Rep. Pete Stark (D) (Ways & Means Subcommittee Ranking
Democrat/cosponsor)
CONNECTICUT:
Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D) (cosponsor)
FLORIDA:
REP. BILL YOUNG (R) (Appropriations Committee Chairman)
REP. DAN MILLER (R)
Rep. F. Allen Boyd (D)
Rep. Carrie Meek (D)
GEORGIA:
Rep. Jack Kingston (R)
IDAHO:
SEN. LARRY CRAIG (R)
ILLINOIS:
Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D) (cosponsor)
Rep. Ray LaHood (R)
INDIANA:
Rep. Peter Visclosky (D) (cosponsor)
IOWA:
Rep. Tom Latham (R)
KANSAS:
Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R)
KENTUCKY:
REP. ANNE NORTHUP (R)
Rep. Harold Rogers (R)
LOUISIANA:
Rep. David Vitter (R)
REP. BILLY TAUZIN (R) (Commerce Chairman)
MARYLAND:
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D) (cosponsor)
MASSACHUSETTS:
Rep. John Olver (D) (cosponsor)
MICHIGAN:
Rep. Joe Knollenberg (R)
Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick (D) (cosponsor).
REP. JOHN DINGELL (D) (Commerce Ranking Democrat)
MINNESOTA:
Rep. Marty Sabo (D)
MISSISSIPPI:
REP. ROGER WICKER (R)
SEN. THAD COCHRAN (R)
MISSOURI:
Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R)
NEW HAMPSHIRE:
Rep. John Sununu (R)
SEN. JUDD GREGG (R)
NEW JERSEY:
Rep. Rod Frelinghuysen (R) (cosponsor)
Rep. Steven Rothman (D)
Rep. Tom Andrews (D) (Education & Workforce Subcommittee Ranking
Democrat/cosponsor)
NEW MEXICO:
Rep. Joe Skeen (R)
NEW YORK:
Rep. Nita Lowey (D) (cosponsor)
Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D) (cosponsor)
Rep. Jose Serrano (D) (cosponsor)
Rep. John Sweeney (R)
Rep. James Walsh (R) (cosponsor)
REP. CHARLES RANGEL (D) (Ways & Means Ranking Democrat)
NORTH CAROLINA:
Rep. David Price (D) (cosponsor)
Rep. Charles Taylor (R)
OHIO:
REP. RALPH REGULA (R) (Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman)
Rep. David Hobson (R)
Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D) (cosponsor).
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R) (Education & Workforce Chairman)
REP. SHERROD BROWN (D) (Commerce Subcommittee Ranking Democrat)
SEN. MIKE DEWINE (R)
OKLAHOMA:
REP. ERNEST ISTOOK (R)
PENNSYLVANIA:
REP. JOHN PETERSON (R)
REP. DON SHERWOOD (R)
Rep. Chaka Fattah (D)
Rep. John Murtha (D)
SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R)
RHODE ISLAND:
Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D) (cosponsor)
SOUTH CAROLINA:
Rep. James Clyburn (D) (cosponsor)
TENNESSEE:
Rep. Zach Wamp (R)
TEXAS:
REP. KAY GRANGER (R)
Rep. Henry Bonilla (R) (cosponsor)
Rep. Tom DeLay (R)
Rep. Chet Edwards (D)
SEN. KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON (R)
VIRGINIA:
Rep. Virgil Goode (I)
Rep. Jim Moran (D) (cosponsor)
Rep. Frank Wolf (R)
WASHINGTON:
Rep. Norm Dicks (D)
Rep. George Nethercutt (R)
WEST VIRGINIA:
Rep. Alan Mollohan (D) (cosponsor)
WISCONSIN:
REP. DAVID OBEY (D) (Appropriations Committee Ranking Democrat)
Beth Powell
AMHCA Director of Public Policy and Professional Issues
801 N. Fairfax Street, Suite 304
Alexandria, VA 22314
703-548-6002, ext. 105
www.amhca.org |
