On October 3, the President vetoed a critical measure renewing the State Childrens Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). Efforts in the House and Senate to override this veto are expected later this month. On September 27, 2007 the Senate passed SCHIP by a vote of 62-29.On September 26, 2007, by a vote of 265-159 (and one member voting "present") the House cleared legislation reauthorizing the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). This is unfortunately 19 votes short of the level necessary to override the expected President veto. Even though the House fell short of the support needed to override President Bush's promised veto, there are critical improvements in this legislation (HR 976) which include a new requirement for equitable coverage of mental illness and a 6-month moratorium on regulations curbing rehabilitative services under Medicaid.
The U.S. Senate passed the Mental Health Parity Act of 2007 (S 558),legislation requiring health plans to cover treatment for mental illness on the same terms and conditions as all other illnesses. The bill now moves to the House, where efforts are underway to move it forward later this fall. NAMI would like to express appreciation to the sponsors of S 558 - Senators Pete Domenici (R-NM), Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) and Mike Enzi (R-WY) - for their persistence and leadership in bringing parity legislation forward. NAMI also thanks all our grassroots members whose efforts have made this victory possible. We now need to ask you help again, to push parity through the House. As Ann George and Julie Savastio write, "NAMI has been instrumental in moving this bill forward. We would like to thank all of our members for helping with this important legislation. It is your individual membership and our collective strength in numbers that allows us to be the 'Nations' Voice on Mental Illness.'"
Congress is still considering its funding bills for fiscal year 2008 - which means that there's still time to push for increased funding for mental illness research. The Senate bill (S 1710) funds the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) for FY 2008 at $1.436 billion, which is $32.4 million more than last year's level and $31 million more than the President's request. The Senate level is also $11 million more than the comparable level for NIMH in the House companion bill. Please act today to make sure that Congress adopts the increased funding for NIMH in the Senate bill! We all know that better research can lead to better treatments. Across the entire National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Senate bill provides $29.9 billion for FY 2008, which is about $250 million above the Houseapproved level and $1.2 billion more than the President's request.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have issued proposed rules on the Medicaid Rehabilitation Services option. The Rehabilitation Services option is the most important funding source of services for people with mental illness such as assertive community treatment (ACT), multi-systemic therapy for children and adolescents (MST), and other important evidence-based services. NAMI is concerned that the proposed rules may have a negative impact on the ability of states to pay for these services.
Data released earlier this year by the Consortium for Citizens With Disabilities (CCD) Housing Task Force and the Technical Assistance Collaborative (TAC) demonstrates that people with mental illness and other disabilities living on SSI are completely "priced out" of the rental housing market. On average, people living on SSI are at 18.2% of area median income and must pay (on average) more than 113% of their monthly income to rent a modest 1-bedroom apartment. An affordable Housing Trust Fund - as envisioned in HR 2895 - will place the federal government back in the business of developing affordable rental housing to individuals and families with extremely low-incomes such as those living on SSI. It is therefore critical to support passage of HR 2895.On October 10, the House of Representatives will consider important legislation to authorize a new Housing Trust Fund to develop rental housing targeted to individuals with extremely low incomes, including people with serious mental illness living on Supplemental Security Income (SSI). NAMI strongly supports this legislation (HR 2895) as a critical step to development of new affordable housing targeted to individuals living on SSI. NAMI is extremely grateful to House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) for bringing this important legislation forward.
Here are some talking points about the Governor's line item vetoes of mental health funding and our effort to override those vetoes. As always it is particularly important to talk about how important the services are to you or your loved ones and the problems posed to the agency you work at/get services from.
The Mental Health Summit urges the legislature to reinstate $14 million that Governor Blagojevich removed from the Fiscal Year 2008 budget in his veto message on August 22, 2007. The Governor eliminated in their entirety the following appropriations
Special Education: The Governor Signs SB 396 into Law. Public Act 95-372 provides, consistent with IDEA 2004, for the transfer of parental rights to a student with a disability at age 18 unless the student is adjudicated incompetent. The new law also allows the student to delegate his or her rights to another adult by executing a revocable Delegation of Rights form. The new law goes into effect immediately.
Judy Graff and Supportive Housing Providers Association report that the $3.9 million addition (to the $14.84 million budget) to fund services in 707 new units of supportive housing will save 900 men, women, and children from homelessness and other shameful living situations. The addition made it to the final budget without being vetoed. Judy writes," All of you did extremely good work over a very long period of time to make this happen. On behalf of our 95 members and the 900 plus people that will benefit, a very heartfelt thank you to each of you."
NAMI Illinois is credited by the Treatment Advocacy Center for a legislative victory achieved in which Senate Bill 234 was signed into law. The new law will go into effect in June 2008 and it will remove the requirement for "dangerousness," before people with incapacitating symptoms can be court-ordered into mental illness treatment. This loosening of a previously overly strict standard will allow for earlier intervention, reduce rates of hospitalization, homelessness, arrests, and incarceration, and save both lives and money.
Sources: Ann George, Julie Savastio, Judy Graff, Sally Mann, NAMI National e-Alerts, Mark Heyrman, Mental Health Summit, Janet Hasz, Supportive Housing Providers Association, Phil Milsk, The Arc of Illinois.
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