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Home >> Publications >>Mental Health Update December 18, 2006
Tom O'Clair invites you to join him as he
IN THE NEWS: Sign
Timothy's Law - Pataki must sign bill that can ensure medical coverage
of mental disorders. Wednesday's one-day, special legislative session was a bust. With one important exception. While a civil confinement bill died of neglect, another important bill lived and now sits on Gov. George Pataki's desk awaiting his signature. There's every reason for the governor to sign off on the bill, the so-called Timothy's Law. The Assembly approved the bill last Wednesday in what was the only show of productivity to come out of the legislative meeting. It wasn't what Pataki wanted when he called legislators back to Albany, yet the measure was an important byproduct of an otherwise unimpressive session. The governor had sought a new civil confinement law to keep sex offenders in state mental facilities for further treatment after their prison sentences had expired. He had intense interest in the bill because the state's highest court had overturned his executive order to confine a number of sex offenders after their sentences were up. But the governor lost that round when the Assembly and Senate could not reach a compromise on civil confinement. He must not let that disappointment sink Timothy's Law. Named for Timothy O'Clair, a 12-year-old Schenectady child who killed himself in 2001, the law would require insurance companies to cover inpatient and outpatient treatment for various mental illnesses not currently covered, including eating disorders. The extra cost, estimated to be from 3 percent to as much as 10 percent, would be passed on to employers and their workers, The Associated Press has reported. The state, however, would pick up the extra expense for small companies of 50 employees or fewer. If the governor has concerns about the controversy that surrounded the law when it was introduced, he need now only look at the votes -- 55-0 in the Senate during a special session in September and 139-0 in the Assembly last week -- to be assured that legislators believe in this bill. And if he has any residual ire at the Assembly for blocking the civil confinement bill, he also should set that aside. Timothy's Law offers too much good for those with mental disorders to become a victim of politics. As he leaves office this year, the governor should act with compassion and sign this bill for the good of the state.
The Legislature accomplished at least one worthwhile thing in its special session this week: the Assembly unanimously passed "Timothy's Law," which would expand the availability of coverage for the treatment of mental illness. The Senate passed the bill earlier this fall. Now it's up to Gov. Pataki to sign the bill into law. Area lawmaker Paul Tonko was the main sponsor of the Assembly bill; the boy for whom it is named lived in his district in Rotterdam. The story is heartbreaking, but it served to put a name and face to a problem that only legislation could address. Timothy O'Clair's parents first sought mental health treatment for their young son, quickly using up their insurance policy's allotted visits and then paying out of pocket to the extent they could afford. "Eventually," explains a Web site set up to promote the law, "the O'Clairs had to relinquish custody of Timothy to gain access to hospitalization." In March 2001, the boy committed suicide at age 12. "If Timothy had diabetes or cancer, our health insurance would have provided unlimited coverage," his parents wrote. "We are confident that had Timothy received the services he needed, he would be here with us now." Legislators have been trying to get Timothy's Law passed for four years. The law addresses coverage for both adults and children, and it brings New York in line with 35 other states. The most important part of the legislation is that it brings co-pays for mental health services down to the same rate as other medical services, rather than $50 or more per visit. It also requires health insurance policies sold in New York to provide at least 30 inpatient days and 20 outpatient visits for mental health treatment, according to the organization Families Together in New York State. Timothy's Law is a trial of sorts, because it expired three years from its enactment. The law requires that the state Insurance Department conduct a cost analysis of the legislation, so that financial ramifications can be reviewed and taken into account before its expiration. For now, the sooner it takes effect, the better. For more information, go to the Timothy's Law Campaign at www.timothyslaw.org or call 432-0333.
ALBANY, NEW YORK (2006-12-15) During the special session this week, the state Assembly approved Timothy's Law. It requires that insurance companies cover mental illnesses as comprehensively as they treat physical ailments. It only needs Governor Pataki's signature to become law. Timothy O'Clair committed suicide just before his 13th birthday, after a long struggle with mental illness. Timothy's father, Tom O'Clair, has fought tirelessly ever since for a law to mandate equal insurance coverage for mental health. O'Clair said he was very excited that the bill had finally passed both houses of the legislature. "It's tremendous," O'Clair said. "It's really a very big relief." The measure now goes to Governor Pataki, who must decide in his final days in office whether to veto it or sign it. O'Clair believes the governor has every reason to approve the bill, based on his track record on providing better health insurance coverage to children. O'Clair points out that Pataki has expanded Medicaid programs for the working poor known as Child Health Plus and Healthy New York. A group representing small businesses is urging Pataki to reject the measure. Chris Koetzle, with Support Services Alliance, says offering the coverage would be too expensive for many small firms. "We are going to ask him to veto it, on the basis that it drives up the cost of health insurance for small businesses," he said. The measure does provide for the state to subsidize businesses with 50 or fewer employees, to help them pay for the extra insurance coverage, but Koetzle says the methodology for figuring out those costs is murky. Governor Pataki seemed to be considering both sides of the issue. The Governor said offering increased mental health coverage was a positive thing, but he said he wanted to do further analysis of what the costs would be, and whether it might actually lead to more uninsured. "You have to weigh those two," Pataki said. Pataki will be stepping down as Governor December 31. He has until then to act.
NAMI Rochester, (the local affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness) is one of several organizations that adamantly believe violent sexual predators without serious mental illness do not belong in our state's hospitals for psychiatric treatment. Rarely do these individuals — fewer than 7 percent — have valid psychiatric diagnoses such as clinical depression, schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. According to Dr. Herbert Sacks, past president of the American Psychiatric Association: "The civil commitment of sexual predators to a mental hospital for purposes of social control is an abuse of the mental health care system. It saddles already under-funded public mental hospitals with a potential lifetime warehousing of people whom the state says do not have mental illness, only a 'mental abnormality.'" If violent sexual predators are to be civilly committed, it should be done in another type of facility located on the grounds of correctional facilities where appropriate research, supervision, structure and assessment could be provided by distinct and separate funding, as has been done successfully in Florida and other states. To saddle the New York State Office of Mental Health with this responsibility would be wrong. Hospitals are for care, treatment and recovery, not warehousing and confinement of sexually violent predators. In addition, we have grave concerns about other aspects of this misguided policy, and they include resources, safety and stigma. Every dollar spent to house a sexual predator in state psychiatric hospitals is a dollar drained from the state mental health budget for appropriate treatment of persons with serious mental illness. Every bed filled by a sexual predator is a bed that is, in effect, closed to a person with a serious mental illness in need of treatment. It is estimated that it would cost $27 million next year to house sexual predators in New York State. We estimate that such a sum would pay for 135 such predators. Gov. George Pataki has said there are 5,000 predators in the pipeline for release. The state Office of Mental Health should not be saddled with this inappropriate responsibility, nor should already scarce dollars and beds be taken away from the mentally ill for this unrelated purpose. Furthermore, persons struggling to recover from serious mental illnesses in the state's hospitals, such as Rochester Psychiatric Center, are among our most vulnerable citizens. Data show that persons with mental illness are 12 times more likely than the general public to be the victims of crimes and violence. Surely locking sexually violent predators up with them, even in the short-term, is not any way to protect vulnerable patients or the people who care for them. In addition, if predators are "shipped off to mental hospitals," it will confirm and increase the stigma that surrounds brain illnesses. Longstanding efforts to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness will be turned back decades by equating sexually violent predators with those who have a serious brain illness. It should not be the answer for our responsible government leaders. Watt is president, NAMI Rochester board of directors. |
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