GOVERNMENT RELATIONS ACTION ALERT

House GOP Conferees Vote to Defeat Mental Health Parity for This Year

Contacts Needed to Express Disappointment and Hold Representatives Accountable

THE ISSUE AT HAND

The Conference Committee for the Labor-HHS-Education Bill, H.R. 3061, met again on Tuesday, December 18^th. A motion made by Representative Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) to include the Senate Domenici-Wellstone Amendment in the final Conference Report for H.R 3061 was defeated by a vote of 7 to 10. Only the House Conferees were required to vote as the Senate had previously expressed their support of the Amendment through their unanimous vote for it on the floor of the Senate.

The vote split among party lines with the 7 House Democratic Conferees in and the 10 House Republican Conferees against. Despite a strong grassroots effort over the last several months in support of mental health parity, Representative Ralph Regula (R-OH), the Conference Chairman, cited opposition from fellow Republican authorizing committee chairs as the reason for the "no" votes.

BACKGROUND

On November 6th, the Senate passed H.R. 3061, the FY 2002 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill, by a vote of 89 to 10. Senators Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Paul Wellstone (D-MN) successfully offered a mental health parity amendment during the Senate consideration of H.R. 3061. The Domenici-Wellstone Amendment, as passed by unanimous voice vote on October 30^th, contained the entire text of S. 543, the Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2001, which would have been a substantial expansion of mental health parity, far beyond that mandated by the 1996 Mental Health Parity Act. Since the House of Representatives had already passed their version of H.R. 3061, on October 11^th by a vote of 373 to 43, the measure was discussed by a joint House-Senate Conference Committee in order to iron out the differences.

ACTION NEEDED

Please call, FAX, or email the Members of Congress who voted against the Domenici-Wellstone Amendment (listed below) to express your disappointment and outrage.

House Republican Conferees (all members of the House Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations Subcommittee):

• Ralph Regula (R-OH) CHAIR
• C.W. Young (R-FL)
• Ernest Istook (R-OK)
• Dan Miller (R-FL)
• Roger Wicker (R-MS)
• Anne Northup (R-KY)
• Randy Cunningham (R-CA)
• Kay Granger (R-TX) John Peterson (R-PA)
• Don Sherwood (R-PA)

Only for the above Representatives, the message is:

"I wanted to express my disappointment and outrage over the Member's recent vote, in opposition to a majority of the House and Senate, against inclusion of the Domenici-Wellstone Mental Health Parity Amendment in the final Conference Report for Labor-HHS Appropriations. It is a shame that the pattern of discrimination continues against the 50 million Americans fighting mental illness."

REMEMBER THAT THIS IS JUST ONE SETBACK DURING A LONG JOURNEY. WE HAVE MADE SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS WITH YOUR HELP! WE WILL ULTIMATELY WIN THE BATTLE FOR MENTAL HEALTH PARITY-- STAY STRONG AND DO NOT GIVE UP.