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August 18, 2006 GOVERNOR PATAKI VETOES LEGISLATION TO ‘BOOT THE SHU’ AND ESTABLISH A MENTAL HEALTH HOUSING WAITING LIST: To date, 2006 has been amongst the most successful years in recent memory in the mental health field. Outstanding accomplishments were included in this year’s budget for children’s mental health initiatives, expansion of housing and long-overdue funding increases for programs serving those living with psychiatric disabilities. Later, toward the end of the Legislative Session, major policy advancements were achieved with the Legislature as they passed several pieces of legislation that would greatly improve the lives of New Yorkers with psychiatric disabilities. Unfortunately, instead of signing two bills that have reached his desk, as thousands of New Yorkers have asked of him and nearly every major newspaper in New York State has urged, Governor Pataki has instead chosen to veto both 1) the legislation to ban the use of solitary confinement for prisoners with psychiatric disabilities, which would also improve prison safety, as Correctional Officers have pointed out, and 2) the legislation to establish a Mental Health Housing Waiting List. ‘BOOT THE SHU’ – It has been a long, hard summer for the Mental Health Alternatives to Solitary Confinement (MHASC) Campaign, of which MHANYS and many other mental health and correctional system change advocates are a part. The entire Campaign has worked tirelessly; meeting with Administration staff and making the case in the press about the need for the Governor to sign this bill into law improve housing and treatment conditions for prisoners with psychiatric disabilities, and thereby improve the safety of the prison system. Shortly after reaching his desk on August 4th, the Governor’s Administration made note of several areas in which they believed the legislation to ‘Boot the SHU’ had technical flaws. Perhaps it is true that the bill contains technical flaws, but as the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle recently opined, “Pataki, who is required to act today on legislation doing away with the practice, shouldn't flinch. The technical concerns his office has expressed about the legislation can be worked out later. Because the law wouldn't become effective until 2008 if Pataki signed off, there'd be plenty of time for the Legislature to make fixes," (August 16, 2006). In fact, in an effort to address the “technical flaws” identified by the Governor, MHASC has offered alternative language to address these areas in which the Administration has concerns in the hopes that such language changes could be made after the legislation was signed into law. Much to the disappointment of advocates, the Governor rejected the changes offered by proponents of this legislation to address the “technical flaws” he identified and has instead, chosen to veto the legislation. The Governor’s veto ignores the recommendations of newspapers from throughout the state and the thousands of voters who have weighed in with the Governor in support of this legislation. Not only will Governor Pataki’s veto do nothing to improve treatment for prisoners with psychiatric disabilities, but it also fail to improve the safety of New York’s prisons. MENTAL HEALTH HOUSING WAITING LIST - Secondly, mental health advocates are also greatly disappointed with Governor Pataki and his veto of the legislation that would create a waiting list of individuals with psychiatric disabilities seeking housing. As many papers offered their support to this legislation, too, many pointed out how this legislation seems perfectly logical and reasonable if the state is going to be responsible in it’s planning for the future housing needs of New Yorkers living with mental illness. The primary objection articulated in the Governor’s veto message, is that by creating such a list of people seeking housing, that this would open up New York State to unprecedented liability based on a ‘right to housing’ argument. Not unprecedented at all, a waiting list has successfully helped New York State find appropriate housing options for people served by the Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities (OMRDD) for many years now. As advocates articulated in meetings with the Administration in attempts to garner support for the bill, many advocates believe that by taking the responsible action to identify this housing needs, this would demonstrate the State’s good-faith effort to address such needs should the State ever be sued on such grounds. Instead, perhaps the Governor’s action in vetoing this bill could actually open the State to liability in this area and the State’s failure to act, should such a lawsuit be brought. One thing remains clear – without a planning process by which to assess and appropriately address housing needs for individuals with mental health needs, New York will continue to lack the information necessary to appropriately address housing needs and responsibly spend the State’s funds in this area. Throughout this process we have acknowledged the work being done by the administration to create housing capacity in New York over the last several years for people with psychiatric disabilities. If the administration had supported this legislation, it would continue to show that commitment and allow for a planning process that would have provided greater partnerships between the state, local governments, housing providers, and advocacy organizations. At the end of the day, all of the strongest possible public policy arguments on both issues, embraced by editorial boards and advocates across the state, were not enough of an impetus to receive the Governor’s support. This is a set back for individuals with psychiatric disabilities and their family members but we have made greater progress than ever before and we will come back stronger than ever in an attempt to override these vetoes.
VETO
#324 I am returning herewith, without my approval, the following bill: Assembly Bill Number 3926-A, entitled: "AN ACT to amend the correction law, in relation to confinement conditions and treatment of convicted persons with mental illness" NOT APPROVED This bill would amend the Correction Law to require that New York State prison inmates confined for disciplinary reasons to Special Housing Units ("SHUs") shall be transferred to Residential Mental Health Treatment Programs ("RMHTP") or other "clinically appropriate housing" upon a determination that the inmate suffers from specific mental illness criteria. Thus, the bill would make New York the first state in the Nation to impose a blanket ban on confining inmates with mental illness to administrative segregation. The bill would take effect 18 months after it shall have become a law. I share the sponsors' commitment to ensuring that all inmates with serious mental illnesses receive necessary mental health services in clinically appropriate prison environments, and that such inmates are removed from more restrictive, disciplinary confinement whenever their condition requires such removal. In furtherance of this commitment, the State has significantly expanded its prison mental heath programs to identify and treat such individuals. Recent accomplishments include: (i) an overall 84% increase in Office of Mental Health ("OMH") staff assigned to provide prison-based mental health care; (ii) a substantial expansion of the mental health treatment capacity and staff for SHU inmates, including the investment of over $7.5 million in new annual operating OMH funds, plus $45 million in new Department of Correctional Services ("DOCS") capital appropriations since the 2004-05 fiscal year; (iii) the construction and opening of new full-service OMH satellite units at Mid-State and Albion Correctional Facilities and the scheduled opening of a satellite unit at Fishkill Correctional Facility; (iv) the establishment of joint OMH/DOCS case management committees which review SHU inmates for inmate-patient needs, current status and the development of plans to improve functioning through the receipt of mental health services; (v) the imposition of new DOCS regulations mandating consideration of an inmate's mental health and intellectual capacity as part of the disciplinary process; (vi) the requirement that all SHU inmates in DOCS facilities with an OMH-operated Mental Health Unit or satellite unit receive a separate mental health assessment within 24 hours and periodically thereafter; and (vii) the construction, by July of 2007, of secure therapy space at various correctional facilities including Southport, Elmira, Wende and Clinton, and expansion of special SHU inmate mental health treatment programs at Attica and Five Points, all of which are designed to provide structured, out-of-cell therapeutic programming in a secure environment to SHU inmates with mental illness. Notably, the State prison-based mental health system is the only state system that is fully accredited by the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. While we work to ensure that prison inmates receive appropriate mental health services, we must do so in a way that is consistent with our obligation to ensure the continued preservation of the safety, security and order of the State's correctional facilities. Correctional systems, which house the most violent and dangerous members of society, cannot function without strong internal controls to regulate inmate behavior. Without the ability to impose disciplinary segregation to protect inmates and staff from those who are unwilling to adhere to even the most minimum levels of civilized behavior, correctional facilities cannot provide the safety and programming needed to allow those committed to rehabilitation to pursue that attainable and worthy goal. I am advised by the various State agencies that are responsible for the operations and oversight of State prisons and the provision of mental health services to prison inmates -- including DOCS, OMH, State Commission of Correction ("SCOC") and the Commission on Quality of Care & Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities ("CQC") -- that this well-intentioned bill suffers from serious flaws that warrant my disapproval. OMH is concerned that the bill would include many inmates who do not suffer from a serious mental illness, including some who are not even mentally ill. According to OMH, the bill would provide for the removal of inmates from SHUs based upon exclusionary criteria referenced solely by a list of specified diagnoses or symptoms without any accompanying determination of the severity and duration of the illness or the degree of functional impairment. This would run counter to standard professional practice, which requires that clinicians complete an assessment and evaluation designed to provide informed recommendations for individualized treatment interventions that are tailored to the specific mental health needs of the individual. Further, OMH reports that certain of the listed exclusionary diagnoses are not considered mental illnesses and do not necessarily merit community mental health care for persons outside of correctional settings. The transfer of inmates who do not have a serious mental illness to RMHTPs could pose a danger to those inmates with serious mental illnesses who are appropriately placed in such an environment. Finally, OMH is concerned that the significant investment of new resources called for under the bill -- estimated by the Division of the Budget to be between $280 and $380 million in capital costs and between $96 million and $131 million in additional annual operating costs -- would result in a diversion of resources from an effective, targeted treatment of those inmates who are most in need of mental health services. DOCS is concerned that the bill's broadly-defined exclusionary criteria would inappropriately restrict its authority to control and segregate violent inmates who pose a danger to corrections personnel and other prison inmates. Further, DOCS is concerned that the broad exclusionary criteria contained in the bill would invite the feigning of illness by inmates to avoid SHU confinement. In addition, DOCS notes that it has spent the last several years working with OMH to develop and implement initiatives designed to provide treatment to all inmates truly in need of mental health care, with particular emphasis on SHU inmates with mental illness, while maintaining security within the system. DOCS believes that these types of decisions should continue to be made by corrections and mental health professionals. Both the SCOC, the mission of which is to provide for a safe, stable and humane correctional system within the State, and the CQC, which is charged with improving the quality of life for New Yorkers with disabilities and protecting their rights, oppose the bill on the grounds that the requirements of the bill would detract from the ability of DOCS and OMH to continue the implementation of more effective system-wide programs. SCOC further advises that the responsibility to recommend a member of the Committee on Psychiatric Correctional Care, proposed to be established by the bill, the acts of which could be subject to SCOC review, would create a conflict with SCOC's oversight and investigative responsibilities. Similarly, the CQC objects to the provisions that would require it to make transfer recommendations, observing that it is not institutionally equipped to make mental health diagnoses. The City of New York has also expressed opposition to the bill on grounds similar to those expressed by DOCS regarding the adverse effects that the bill would have on the safety and security of the State's correctional system. I am convinced by the arguments of the dedicated professionals who operate and oversee our corrections and mental health systems that the bill would adversely affect the State's ability to maintain order within the correctional system and would inappropriately disregard the judgment of mental health professionals in regard to the treatment provided to prison inmates. Accordingly, I am compelled to disapprove the bill. This bill is disapproved VETO
#323 I am returning herewith, without my approval, the following bill: Assembly Bill Number 2895-A, entitled: "AN ACT to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to the establishment of community housing waiting lists for adults within the office of mental health service system" NOT APPROVED This bill would amend the Mental Hygiene Law to require the Commissioner of the Office of Mental Health ("OMH") to establish a community housing waiting list for adults "who have been referred to or applied for but have not yet received supported, supportive, supervised or congregate housing services." The bill also would direct each provider of housing services in the OMH system to provide the agency with a monthly list of each person who is referred to, admitted to, applying for, withdrawing an application for or denied admission to housing provided by such provider. Further, the bill would require community-based assessors of persons with disabilities to provide a list of persons who would benefit from such housing to OMH on a monthly basis. This bill would take effect immediately. While I commend the sponsors for their efforts to identify State-wide housing needs for persons with mental illness, I am constrained to disapprove this bill based on objections raised by OMH. First, OMH has identified a serious technical flaw in the bill. As currently drafted, the bill would require persons to be included on the waiting list if they are "referred to or applying for" OMH housing, regardless of whether they meet the eligibility requirements for such housing and whether such housing is an appropriate placement for them. Thus, by including such persons, OMH is concerned that the waiting list would not accurately reflect the need for OMH licensed or funded housing. Second, OMH notes that the bill is duplicative of its Single Point of Access initiative, which is a county-based program that matches mentally ill individuals with available services, including housing. Over the last 11 years, New York State has significantly increased its commitment to providing community-based supportive housing for persons with serious and persistent mental illness. Since 1995, we have increased the number of community beds for such persons from 18,000 to 27,500, with more than 8,000 additional beds in the pipeline. While I am constrained to disapprove the bill on the basis of the technical defect identified by OMH, I encourage the sponsors and supporters of the bill to work with OMH and other interested parties to identify improvements to the current process of identifying State-wide housing needs for persons with mental illness. The bill is disapproved. CALL YOUR ASSEMBLYMEMBER AND SENATOR TO URGE THEM TO OVERRIDE GOVERNOR PATAKI’S VETOES: In light of Governor Pataki’s most recent vetoes and his veto of legislation to shift the burden of proof in special education hearings back to school districts rather than letting it remain on parents, we are urging everyone to contact their legislators to urge them to override these vetoes. Please
contact your Assemblymember by calling 518-455-4100 Also,
contact your Senator by calling 518-455-2800 Tell your legislators to: Override Governor Pataki’s veto of A.3926-a / S.2207-c, the legislation to ban the use of solitary confinement for prisoners with psychiatric disabilities. Override
Governor Pataki’s veto of A.2895-a / S.3653-a, Override Governor Pataki’s veto of A.11965 / S.8354, legislation intended to reinstate the burden of proof in special education hearings on the school districts.
Pataki's
No-Care Package: Gov's move will keep mentally ill inmates in
solitary and is sure to end more lives. By Errol Lewis It looks like Gov. Pataki won't be running for President as a compassionate conservative. A few days after hobnobbing with potential voters at the Iowa State Fair - a well-known early stop for White House hopefuls - Pataki flew back home and this week vetoed a bill, overwhelmingly approved by the New York State Legislature, which would ban state prisons from putting mentally ill inmates in solitary confinement. Pataki should be ashamed of himself. Putting mentally ill people in solitary confinement is an indefensible practice that should have been halted long ago. An estimated 8,000 state prisoners - 12% of the overall population - are mentally ill, often in ways that make them disruptive. Our state prisons often put these sick people in isolated confinement for 23 hours a day, mostly in what are euphemistically called "special housing units." The mind-bending state of these units has been documented by the Correctional Association of New York, which runs a prison visitation committee that spoke with 162 mentally ill prisoners locked in solitary. "We interviewed men who were weeping in their cells, who mutilated their own flesh, who hadn't left their cell in months, who smeared feces on themselves or repeatedly attempted suicide," the group testified in 2003. At times, the visits had to be suspended because of "inmates yelling or banging on their doors, calling out for help." Solitary lockdown only makes sick prisoners more ill, according to Community Access, Inc., an advocacy group for the mentally ill that has been pushing for change. And the Urban Justice Center, another advocacy group, estimates that 700 mentally ill people are in lockdown right down. Ten states have already banned the practice of putting mentally ill inmates in solitary. The list includes California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, New Jersey and Texas - places not known for being soft on crime or prisoners. The New York Legislature, in a rare show of bipartisanship, voted overwhelmingly this year to ban the practice of locking mentally ill prisoners in solitary and instead give them treatment in secure prison hospital wards. The Republican-led state Senate, which often balks at expanding prisoners' rights, approved the bill unanimously. Even the main guards union, the New York State Correctional Officers and Police Benevolent Association, supported the bill, recognizing that decisions on how to confine mentally troubled prisoners should be made by medical staff, not guards. Pataki vetoed the bill anyway, despite compelling evidence that his action will cost lives. From 1998 to 2004, at least 52 state prisoners committed suicide while housed in isolated confinement. One of them was the son of Elsie Butler, part of a group of bereaved mothers who petitioned Pataki, in vain, for a measure of compassion. "On June 3, 2000, my son James Butler hung himself with a sheet while in solitary confinement in the Fishkill Correctional Facility," says Butler. "He had bipolar disorder and was suffering after being in the box for nearly 200 days straight. " Pataki, pursuing his political dreams in Iowa and New Hampshire, was not swayed by the pleas and petitions of Butler and other mothers. Ray Ortiz, a former inmate who now works at the Urban Justice Center and meets weekly with inmates who have psychiatric illnesses, was bluntly truthful in describing the result of Pataki's hard-hearted approach at a recent press conference. "There are young men and women in these cells right now. Some will kill themselves," said Ortiz. "Others will cut themselves - each of them hearing voices and going deeper into the darkness."
ALBANY, N.Y. -- A bill that would have banned solitary confinement for dangerous mentally ill prisoners was vetoed Thursday by Gov. George Pataki. The bill would have required mentally ill prisoners deemed a danger to inmates or staff to be sent to a residential mental health treatment program. Currently, those prisoners can spend up to 23 hours a day in solitary confinement. In
his veto message, Pataki said prisons need to be able to impose
disciplinary segregation to protect inmates and staff "from
those who are unwilling to adhere to even the most minimum levels
of civilized "While we work to ensure that prison inmates receive appropriate mental health services, we must do so in a way that is consistent with our obligation to ensure the continued preservation of the safety, security and order of the state's correctional facilities," Pataki said. "This is just a failure of leadership," said Harvey Rosenthal of the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services. He said Pataki and legislative leaders cited technical problems with the bill that should have been solved in compromise to end "the unjust suffering of the inmates and dangerous prison conditions." Rosenthal said as many as 800 mentally ill prisoners are in solitary confinement. Sen. Thomas Duane, a Manhattan Democrat, said, mentally ill prisoners "usually deteriorate rapidly and sometimes mutilate themselves or take their own lives when placed in solitary confinement." Pataki said the measure would have cost the state $280 million to $380 million in construction costs and another $131 million a year to operate. Rosenthal said he's unsure of the chances of an override attempt by lawmakers.
ALBANY - Gov. George Pataki vetoed legislation meant to end the placement of mentally ill prison inmates into solitary confinement and to provide them with new treatment facilities. The bill, which overwhelmingly passed both houses of the Legislature, created special new residential treatment facilities for disruptive prison inmates with serious mental illness and was meant to end the "inhumane and counterproductive nature" of locking some of those inmates in solitary confinement. Pataki, however, argued in his veto message issued Thursday that the bill restricts prison officials' ability to "control and segregate violent inmates" and that new prison programs are already in place to identify and treat mentally ill inmates. Some mental-health advocates didn't buy Pataki's arguments. "It's a bitter disappointment," said Harvey Rosenthal, executive director of the New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services. "He (Pataki) missed a great opportunity to make New York state a national leader. It's a terrible thing." Lawmakers estimated that 12 percent of the state prison population suffers from serious mental illness. They also noted that those punished by use of solitary confinement self mutilate or commit suicide at rates three times higher than the general prison population. "Other states have recognized the substantial psychological damage caused by isolation and have acted to restrict or exclude prisoners with serious mental illness from the harsh and deleterious effects of punitive segregation," said a memo filed with the legislation. It is estimated that 23 percent of inmates in solitary special housing unit cells, where they are kept for 23 hours each day, suffer from serious mental illness. "Besides being inhumane, placing a mentally ill inmate in solitary confinement makes a bad situation worse," said state Sen. Velmanette Montgomery, D-Brooklyn. "It creates prisoners who are more disruptive, more disturbed and more likely to hurt themselves or others." Pataki estimated that building the new treatment facilities called for in the legislation would cost between $280 and $380 million and would run between $96 and $131 each year to operate. Pataki listed a variety of recent measures by the state Department of Correctional Services to treat mentally ill inmates, but he also asserted that prison administrators need strong controls to regulate inmate behavior. "Without the ability to impose disciplinary segregation to protect inmates and staff from those who are unwilling to adhere to even the most minimum levels of civilized behavior," Pataki said, "correctional facilities cannot provide the safety and programming needed to allow those committed to rehabilitation to pursue that attainable and worthy goal." It could not be determined Thursday whether the Legislature planned to override the veto.
Governor Pataki has vetoed a bill that would have prohibited mentally ill prisoners from being put in solitary confinement. Advocates for the mentally ill say it's cruel and inhumane to keep prisoners who suffer from diseases such as schizophrenia and manic depression in isolation. They tell stories of inmates who've attempted suicide or whose conditions have been extremely exacerbated. The bill would have required prisoners with a mental illness be transferred to treatment programs instead. The Governor says the state is already committed to making sure mental health services are given to inmates who need them. The Governor says he vetoed the bill because it limits the Department of Correction's ability to maintain order inside prisons. He also says the state's office of mental health was concerned it would disregard its clinicians assessments and exclude people who were not severely mentally ill. The bill passed the Repubican run Senate by a unanimous vote. According to advocates more than 700 mentally ill prisoners are currently in solitary confinement in New York.
Too many inmates in New York prisons who suffer from serious mental illnesses are being held in small, dimly lit cells for as long as 23 hours a day. Gov. Pataki can end this barbaric practice by signing a bill on his desk that prohibits placing prisoners with psychiatric disabilities in the "hole." After all, this is New York state, once renowned for its progressive spirit. Confining mentally ill inmates in boxes sounds like something Saddam Hussein would have ordered his henchmen to do. Pataki, who is required to act today on legislation doing away with the practice, shouldn't flinch. The technical concerns his office has expressed about the legislation can be worked out later. Because the law wouldn't become effective until 2008 if Pataki signed off, there'd be plenty of time for the Legislature to make fixes. Meantime, it's telling that a growing number of states have abolished "special housing units." Among them are Florida and Texas, which have reputations for being tough on criminals. Incredibly, more than 700 prisoners with severe mental conditions are being held in the units. That's the largest number of inmates being held in disciplinary segregation in the nation, and, at 6.7 percent, is the largest percentage of any prison population. Those are all shameful statistics that no longer should be ignored. Stop the inhumane and unjust treatment of prisoners and give them the therapeutic help the legislation would provide.
A bill pending before Gov. George E. Pataki deserves his support, not only to save taxpayers litigation costs, but to place the state on the right side of a humanitarian issue. The State Legislature recently approved the measure, which would prohibit the use of solitary confinement for prisoners with psychiatric disabilities. The New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services says there are more than 700 such prisoners "with severe and chronic psychiatric conditions deteriorating as they remain isolated from all human contact in small, dimly lit cells for 23 hours a day." Those prisoners, the association says, "are prey to terrifying symptoms and frequently attempt suicide." Indeed, a survey by the Correctional Association of New York State shows that 53 percent of inmates with mental illnesses in solitary confinement reported suicide attempts in prison, while 40 percent reported acts of self-mutilation. Other states - even Texas - are ahead of New York in their treatment of prisoners with mental illnesses. Often, though, these improvements have come as a result of a court order. Perhaps alone among the states that acted without a court order was Indiana, whose commissioner of corrections agreed to move inmates with severe psychiatric disorders to more appropriate treatment-based settings. Even then, though, a lawsuit may have been in the offing. New York has a chance to do the right thing before the inevitable lawsuit and almost certain victory by the plaintiffs. It's not mollycoddling to take account of significant mental disturbances and, as federal courts have already ruled, it may constitute cruel and unusual punishment not to. Pataki should sign this bill.
It is highest time to treat mental illness the same way as any other illness. Punishing mentally ill people in prisons by locking them up in solitary units, also known as the box, for 23 hours a day, instead of providing necessary medical treatment is a practice one would expect in Medieval times and not the 21st century. We certainly would not do this to people with diabetes or heart disease. Your Aug. 8 editorial condemning this barbaric treatment of prisoners with mental illness is a step in the right direction. We trust your voice will add to the many other voices and that Gov. George Pataki will sign the necessary legislation to relegate this inhumane practice to history. Isaac
D. Rubin
I would like to respond to the letter July 30 [by Nancy Sheltra and Joanne Cleveland], regarding the death of their sister by suicide. I was struck by the statement, "She was hopeful about getting into Ellis Hospital's day program, but the program was held up for her because her husband's insurance wouldn't cover it." Our state legislators have had the opportunity to correct such a grave situation from happening With a mental health parity bill, commonly known as Timothy's Law. Parity means that mental health services would be treated the same as any other medical services. Medicaid would have paid for the program. Here lies the problem: In order to be Medicaid-eligible, one has to spend down resources to poverty level. Therefore, without medical insurance coverage, this woman, along with many others in the middle class, cannot afford such treatment. Once again the bill passed the Assembly this year. The Senate has an opportunity when it returns in the fall to pass this bill. I encourage people to contact their senators and urge them to pass Timothy's Law. Mental health parity will prevent unnecessary loss of life. KAREN
GAROFALLOU
Rewind the clock five years. Timothy O'Clair, a 12-year-old tormented way beyond normal adolescent angst and anxiety, gets the mental health care he so desperately needs. His parents don't have to frantically search for treatment for the boy - beyond the 20 outpatient visits allowed by insurance. They don't have to pay co-payments that are higher than those required for physical illnesses. They don't have to try to pay for his care when the insurance runs out. They don't have to relinquish custody of Timothy to the state, in hopes of getting him better medical treatment. Timothy gets help, and instead of hanging himself just a few weeks before his 13th birthday, he enters his teen years hopeful about his future, eventually graduating with the class of 2006. That scenario would only have been possible if a law had existed ensuring parity between mental health and physical health coverage. But finally, after a relentless, five-year fight by Tom O'Clair on behalf of his son's memory, the Legislature and Gov. George Pataki could make Timothy's Law a reality. It was a worthy battle waged by O'Clair, who visited Syracuse last week. For too long, as if stuck in a medieval mindset, the state has sanctioned two sets of standards for illness - mental and physical. It has allowed insurance companies to dicker over mental health benefits - restricting or denying coverage - or requiring more out-of-pocket costs. Perhaps most ashamedly, the debate has focused on costs - as if patients who suffered from mental illnesses were less worthy of coverage than those who had a broken leg. Certainly, health costs are astronomical all around - and many businesses are feeling the strain. But the answer isn't to deny much-needed mental health services. Indeed, the advocacy organization www.timothyslaw.org argues that the nation already pays nearly $80 billion a year in costs related to not covering mental illness. Among the bill's provisions: coverage for 30 inpatient days and 20 outpatient days; co-payments equal to those for physical illnesses, and full coverage for children for certain mental health illnesses, including the disruptive behavior disorders that affected Timothy. The bill isn't perfect. Its provisions may temper a hostile campaign against the bill by the Business Council by covering added costs of businesses with 50 or fewer employees. But legislators have stepped into a murky area by excluding addictions (including eating disorders) in the provision. The bill does have a sunset clause that allows reviewing and revision after three years. The Senate is expected to vote on the bill in September, and the Assembly, which has always supported the law, later in the year. The bill deserves universal support - on behalf of all the Timothys who need help, not hassles. |
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