NEW and IMPORTANT LEGISLATION:
TIMOTHY'S
LAW
It has become official: as of December 22, 2006, Timothy's
Law, the legislation which was ardently sought by many loyal activists, was
signed into law. This vital legislation now ensures health insurance equality
for New York State mental health service recipients. This new law was named for
12 year old Timothy O'Clair, a Schenectady county boy who suffered with a
severe emotional illness but couldn't receive the necessary mental health
services he required under his parent's health insurance coverage. Timothy took
his own life in March 2001, which prompted his loving and dedicated father Tom
O'Clair to begin the task of seeking this legislation to be enacted. When it
was finally signed into law it made New York the 38th state in the nation to
boast this equality in mental health insurance coverage.
This legislation is profoundly significant for the mental
health community as it will enable millions of new Yorkers to now receive and
afford urgently needed mental health care through both their health insurance
plans and their HMO's. This is profoundly good news for those suffering from
mental/emotional illness who have had a difficult time affording the medical
care they so urgently needed due to the lack of broad based mental health
coverage. The new coverage mandates that all New York State employers that
offer health insurance provide this wide-ranging coverage that will include at
least 20 outpatient days and 30 inpatient days, with co-pays and deductibles
being equivalent to those used for all other physical illness.
This is wonderful news for those in the mental health
community as it insures that all medical illness (with mental/emotional
disorders being just that) are treated as equal problems which absolutely
require necessary medical care and treatment. We are so glad to be entering
into a new year with such an important issue now being a new law - great
progress for all of New York and especially for those who need mental health
treatment and care! |
NYS Independent Living Council, Inc.