CAREER BANK
eNEWSLETTER Carolina Counselor
Government Relations for North Carolina Counselors
ACA-ALERT: Calls Needed to Senate on MH/AD Parity
TIME SENSITIVE — March 17 Deadline
Ask Your Senators to Co-Sign Wyden-Coleman Letter on Mental Health & Addictive Disorder Parity
Now that both the House and Senate have passed their respective version of mental health and addictive disorder parity legislation (H.R. 1424 and S. 558), ACA and other advocates are turning up the pressure for enactment of as strong a parity bill as possible this year.
Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Norm Coleman (R-MN) are working on this from the “inside,” too. The Senators have drafted a letter to Senate Majority Leader Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell urging the resolution of differences between the two bills. The Senators write: “It is long overdue to finish the work started by Senators Pete Domenici and Paul Wellstone in 1996. Now that the House and Senate have passed their bills, millions of Americans with mental illness and addiction and their families are counting on us to put aside our differences and come to a bipartisan agreement. We should not let any of the differences between theses two landmark pieces of legislation prevent the U.S. Congress from finishing this important job.
“In sending this letter, we want to express our strong support for the intent of both these bills and let you know that we stand ready to work together to end the discrimination against people suffering with mental illness and addiction.”
Counselors are encouraged to call their Senators to ask them to sign on to the Wyden-Coleman parity letter. We need to demonstrate to Senate leaders that their constituents want a strong parity bill enacted. The deadline for signing on is March 17th 2008, so please call your Senators by the end of the week!
For more information, contact:
Scott Barstow
Director of Public Policy and Legislation
American Counseling Association
5999 Stevenson Avenue
Alexandria, VA 22304
703.823.9800 x234
703.405.9711 (cell)
703.823.0252 (fax)
800.347.6647 x234
703.823.6828 TDD
Email: sbarstow@counseling.org
Website: www.counseling.org