Timothy's Law: The Fight for Mental Health Insurance Parity

The New York State Senate left Albany last session without passing legislation that would end insurance discrimination against people who have mental illness and chemical dependency. The legislation, called Timothy's Law, would have mandated insurance parity to cover the costs of treatment for mental illness. While passed in the Assembly by a landslide vote, State Senators headed home without taking up this legislation.

Timothy O'Clair committed suicide by hanging himself in his bedroom closet just seven weeks short of his 13th birthday. His family had struggled for years to afford the treatment he needed for psychiatric illnesses. In New York, insurers limit annual mental health visits and charge higher deductibles and co-payments. These realities force families to make desperate choices that often result in under-treatment or in relinquishing custody of their child to the state. In fact, the O'Clairs made this horrendous choice and placed Timothy in foster care, so that Medicaid would cover the costs that their medical insurance refused to pay. Mental health insurance parity has already been passed in thirty-three states. Treatment coverage under Timothy's Law would cost only an estimated $1.26 per employee per month in increased premiums - a price that is cost-effective and that the majority of New Yorkers have indicated they are willing to pay.

Your help is needed to bring mental health insurance parity to New York. Contact NYS Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno at 518-455-3191 or at BRUNO@senate.state.ny.us and urge him to help pass Timothy's Law this year .

To learn more about Timothy's Law and the campaign to end discrimination by insurance companies against people with mental illness and chemical dependencies, visit www.timothyslaw.org

Air Travel Hotline
Can Help You Fly Friendly Skies

The U.S. Department of Transportation operates a toll free hotline for air travelers with disabilities. The hotline serves two main purposes: 1) to educate consumers with disabilities about their rights as travelers on commercial airlines and 2) to assist individuals in resolving disability-related air travel problems.

Hotline operators are well-versed in the laws that protect air travelers who have disabilities and can provide callers with general information about their rights. They can also assist air travelers with disabilities in resolving "real time" or upcoming issues with air carriers by contacting the carrier and attempting to resolve the issue. For example, they can convince the carrier to accept service animals and electric wheelchairs on board flights, stow folding wheelchairs in the cabin, and provide requested wheelchair assistance.

Hotline operators are available from 7 AM to 11 PM Eastern Time seven days a week. The phone number is 1-800-778-4838 (Voice) or 1-800-455-9880 (TTY).

Air travelers, who want the DOT to investigate a complaint about a disability-related issue, still must submit their complaint in writing via e-mail at airconsumer@ost.dot.gov or by postal mail to: Aviation Consumer Protection Division, U.S. Department of Transportation, 400 7th Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590.

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