Mental Health Association in New York State, Inc.
(Publication Archives)

Friday Fax from Albany

Text of MHANYS’ April 28th Press Release:

Mental Health Advocates Blast Sexual Predator
Civil Lock-Up Proposal

“If we can double the criminal penalty for speeding
in a work zone, we can double the penalty
for being a violent sexual predator,” Glazer says

Mental health advocates today called the Senate passage of legislation to contain sexual predators in state psychiatric hospitals a case of mistaken identity. “This is a criminal justice issue, not a mental health issue!” stated MHANYS’ President/CEO Joseph Glazer.

This issue, defeated in 1998 by mental health advocates led by MHANYS, has again surfaced. Earlier today, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno expressed concerns about the post-incarceration release of sexual predators into the community. The proposal, S.5556 (Senator Volker), would allow the state to involuntarily and civilly commit violent sexual offenders after they have served their criminal sentence. Mental health advocates reject the plan and its underlying supposition.

“This, is pure and simple, a problem of the failure of our criminal justice system. Because of the vulnerability of victims, with which we are certainly familiar, many of these cases are resolved through plea agreements, as trials are necessarily avoided. The end result is that violent sexual predators are getting out of prison too soon.

“In 1995, New York State passed a law doubling the penalty for speeding in a work zone. If we can double the criminal penalty for speeding in a work zone, we can double the penalty for being a violent sexual predator,” Glazer said.

According to mental health experts, for the vast majority of these offenders, there is no effective mental health treatment, and only some forms of sexual violence are even identified as having mental health as a component of the act. For this law to be implemented, a new definition of mental defect has to be adopted – one that does not currently exist in the law.

“Undoubtedly, people with mental health needs have very little protection in our criminal justice system. Yet a proposal like this, which will place the predator in with the prey, will do nothing to resolve that issue, either,” Glazer added.

PDL Rearing Its Ugly Head: As you all may recall, MHANYS worked very hard last year to help Assemblyman Rivera and his colleagues stem a last minute effort by the Governor and others to force a Preferred Drug List into the state’s Medicaid program. This issue has always been a complicated one, as many look at escalating Medicaid costs to both the state and the county, and do not see the problem with placing restrictions on the medications available to the poorest, sickest, and most vulnerable New Yorkers. MHANYS, and over 20 other organizations, have maintained that this is exactly the path New York must avoid. The prospect of saving pennies per pill, while emergency room costs skyrocket and the overall health of New York’s most at-risk communities deteriorates even further, is not a cost we can afford.

Throughout most of this year’s legislative session, it had appeared that we had successfully beaten this program back. But within the past week, the PDL has once again surfaced to threaten those living with mental illness and chronic health conditions in New York - a population that is much more likely than the average New Yorker to rely upon Medicaid for services.

MHANYS is again leading a charge against the PDL. We are out in front, asking everyone to take part in a campaign to defeat the PDL. The first action we will be taking is a phone-in day on Monday, May 10. A flyer for the phone-in follows.

Last year, many throughout Albany told us that a PDL was going to happen, whether we liked it or not. We stuck to our position and against all odds, we beat it. We can do so again this year, but we will again need your help to ensure that Medicaid is protected for those who need it most.

Timothy’s Law Events Around the State: Next week, there will be two major Timothy’s Law events, one in Albany, one in Watertown.

In Albany, an overnight vigil will be held on the steps of the Capitol from the evening of April 4th into Timothy O’Clair’s birthday, April 5th. The flyer for the Albany vigil follows.

In Watertown, Timothy’s Law supporters will hold a march and rally on Thursday, May 6th. The march will begin at the Northern Regional Center for Independent Living (NRCIL) at 3:00 p.m. and will end with the rally at the State Office Building, which will be held from 3:30-5:30 p.m. Afterward, a “Pizza for Parity” party will be held at NRCIL. Additional information regarding the events in Watertown on May 6th is available at 315-785-8703.

Phone-In to Save Your Prescription Drugs

Monday, May 10, 2004

Right now, elected officials in Albany are trying to save a few pennies by limiting access to prescription drugs for the sickest and most vulnerable New Yorkers.

Please take a few minutes to call:

• Governor Pataki – (518) 474-8390
• Your Senator – (518) 455-2800 – Ask for your Senator
• Your Assemblymember – (518) 455-4100 – Ask for your member

Tell them:

“I am calling because I want you to oppose a Preferred Drug List within Medicaid. I want you to protect access to the proper medications for all New Yorkers.”

Don’t know who your Legislator is, but still want to call?
Find them at the Board of Elections website: http://map01.elections.state.ny.us/boe/main.asp.

Download the full PDF version of this flyer.

A Parent’s Vigil
and Birth date Memorial
In observance of Timothy O’Clair’s birthday

For more information please contact:
Noelle Sala 518-465-3546 or a nsala2002@yahoo.com or
Ruth Foster 518-432-0333 x 15 or rfoster@ftnys.org

MHANYS’ Flyer Distributed to the NYS Senate:

April 29th marks the two-year anniversary of President Bush’s
call for passage of mental health parity legislation.

Excerpts from the President’s April 29, 2002 speech at the University of New Mexico

"Our country must make a commitment: Americans with mental illness deserve our understanding, and they deserve excellent care. They deserve a health care system that treats their illness with the same urgency as physical illness."

"Insurance plans too often place greater restrictions on the treatment of mental illness than on the treatment of other medical illnesses. As a result, some Americans are unable to get effective medical treatments that would allow them to function well in their daily lives. Our health insurance system must treat serious mental illness like any other disease."

President Bush, 69 US Senators, 245 Members of the US House of Representatives, 58 NYS Senators, 131 NYS Assemblymembers, and 81% of New York residents support the passage of mental health parity legislation.

No More Baloney - Pass Timothy’s Law!

For more information on Timothy’s Law, go to www.mhanys.org/timothyslaw

Download the full PDF version of this flyer.

In the News:

Follow the lobbying money on Timothy's Law. Letter to the Editor
Albany Times Union, April 23, 2004

In support of your goal of improving the process of state government, I would like to "connect the dots" on two stories you published in the last month.

The first story detailed the fact that paid lobbyists will spend nearly $120 million to impact the behavior of state lawmakers this legislature session. With a 98 percent re-election rate for incumbents, whose carefully gerrymandered districts create only token opposition; campaign expenses would not seem to justify such largess.

Your second story was a column that expressed the frustration of advocates for Timothy's Law who were at a loss as to how a bill with more than 30 co-sponsors could not gain passage in the state Senate. Sen. Thomas Libous, it was explained, "had a problem" with the bill as passed by the Assembly.

With the pharmaceutical companies and the health insurance companies having huge financial interests in keeping children on profitable (albeit potentially dangerous) drug regimens and out of costly treatment programs that might cure their illnesses, these corporate giants hold a significant advantage over needy children and their families.

I therefore suggest that the Times Union, along with the New York Public Interest Research Group, request that the state comptroller and attorney general conduct an audit trail of contributions from pharmaceutical and health insurance companies to members of the state Senate and follow that trail into the bank accounts of key lawmakers such as Sen. Libous.

Your advocacy on behalf of these emotionally disturbed children would mean a giant leap forward in cleaning up our legislative process and improving the human condition within New York state.

T. MARK COSTELLO
LeGrangeville

State to close Four Winds, says hospital failed to improve.
Syracuse Post Standard, April 27, 2004

Problems include unsanitary conditions, "inherently dangerous" practices.

State regulators will close Four Winds hospital in Syracuse because they say the psychiatric facility is incapable of fixing a litany of problems, including filthy conditions, lack of supervision and use of dangerous patient restraint practices.

In a letter sent to Four Winds on Monday, the state Office of Mental Health said it will revoke the hospital's operating certificate unless it agrees to voluntarily surrender the certificate.

The state's action stems from an inspection it conducted last month that turned up serious, widespread deficiencies at the 107-bed private hospital at 650 S. Salina St. The state ordered Four Winds to shut off admissions March 26 following that inspection. Those problems were similar to deficiencies inspectors discovered at the facility two years ago.

In the letter, James B. McQuide of the state Office of Mental Health wrote, ". . . it is clear that the corrective action implemented two years ago at Four Winds/Syracuse was neither sustained nor effective."

McQuide said his agency is not confident a plan of correction submitted by Four Winds would lead to permanent improvements. He also said the agency doesn't believe the hospital can ensure basic patient rights.

Four Winds officials said they were stunned by the state's decision, which they learned of Monday evening.

Paul Marron, the hospital's director of community relations, said Four Winds has been working hard to correct the deficiencies and it expected the state to approve its plan of correction. The state never returned to conduct a formal follow-up survey after last month's inspection, Marron said. Inspectors with the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services visited the hospital in recent weeks and were impressed with the changes they saw, he said.

Pass Timothy’s Law with state budget. Letter to the Editor
Democrat and Chronicle, April 27, 2004

Your April 4 editorial “Get on board” makes mention of the burden Medicaid has placed upon counties in New York, “creating huge deficits for counties statewide, including Monroe.” As a state, we must not only work to find solutions to this problem, but also protect access to the services that so many individuals on Medicaid rely upon. One way to accomplish this goal would be to pass Timothy’s Law as part of this year’s budget.

Timothy’s Law was written to require insurance companies to provide coverage for mental health and chemical dependency services at the same level they do for physical ailments. Because some parents are left without adequate mental health insurance for their children, hundreds, possibly thousands, are forced to relinquish custody of their children to the state so that the children can become Medicaid eligible and access the unlimited mental health services afforded to all Medicaid recipients. When this occurs, children are placed in costly residential facilities at taxpayer expense.

Taxpayers are left subsidizing the multibillion-dollar health insurance industry so that they may continue their discriminatory practices against those living with mental illness.

Passing Timothy’s Law as part of the budget is sound policy that will decrease costs for New York’s families, and New York’s Medicaid system. I urge our government officials to examine this possibility, and the significant savings, in greater detail.

JOSEPH A. GLAZER, ALBANY
Glazer is president and CEO of the Mental Health Association in New York State.