GOVERNMENT RELATIONS ACTION ALERT

November 30, 2001

Urgent Contacts Needed ASAP for GOP House Conferees In Support of Mental Health Parity!

 

THE ISSUE AT HAND

The 10 House Republicans on the Labor-HHS-Education conference committee, chaired by Representative Ralph Regula (R-OH), are telling us they do not want to accept the Domenici-Wellstone amendment because it is authorizing legislation, and they are being pressured by the chairs of three other committees (Ways & Means, Education & the Workforce, and Energy & Commerce) to hold firm. We must push to urge not only the aforementioned conferees, but also the authorizing committee chairs to overcome their objections and work with Sen. Domenici.

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. And since the House of Representatives had already passed their version of H.R. 3061, on October 11th by a vote of 373 to 43, the measure proceeded to a conference committee to iron out the differences.

One of the major points of discussion involves mental health parity. 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 voice vote on October 30th, contains the entire text of S. 543, the Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act of 2001, which is a substantial expansion of mental health parity, far beyond that mandated by the 1996 Mental Health Parity Act.

A conference committee has been convened to iron out the differences; the committee had been scheduled to meet on December 3rd, but has been postponed indefinitely.

Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee members will be among the conferees, but other House members will also play important behind-the-scenes roles in deliberations on mental health parity. Three different authorization committees of the House are being consulted as to their views on parity because they have jurisdiction over elements of parity legislation: the Committee on Education and the Workforce, the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and the Committee on Ways and Means.

ACTION NEEDED

ASAP, constituents of the targeted House members listed below should call 1-866-PARITY4 (1-866-727-4894). This toll-free number, established by the Coalition for Fairness in Mental Illness Coverage, will connect you to the U.S. Capitol Switchboard, where you may ask for a Representative's office by name. If you are not sure who your Representative is, the Capitol Switchboard can determine the appropriate one by your zip code. Once you've been connected to an office, be sure to ask to speak with the "Mental Health Legislative Assistant" and deliver one of following messages.

Targeted Representatives and Message

If your Member of Congress appears on the targeted list, use this message:

Message: "I’m calling to urge the Representative to work with Labor-HHS Appropriations conferees to accept the Senate’s mental health parity amendment. This legislation will help families by banning arbitrary limits on needed mental health services."

Targeted Representatives