Today and for the rest of this week, the Senate will debate legislation, called the Health Insurance Marketplace Modernization and Affordability Act (HIMMA), S. 1955, that would override state mental health parity laws and other state insurance protections. All AACAP members are asked to increase action against this bill by contacting their two Senators to request opposition to it. If you were a part of the AACAP/SPCAP Advocacy Day on May 5th, where you already requested opposition to the bill, it is still important to call your Senators offices. The Senate is expected to take a procedural vote, known as a "cloture vote," on S. 1955 on Thursday, May 11th, so your action is needed this week to prevent this bill's passage.

S. 1955, sponsored by Sen. Enzi (R-WY), was drafted to address the problem of the uninsured, however, as currently drafted, the bill could eliminate critical health insurance protections requiring insurers to cover services, such as mental health treatment, and make health care coverage more expensive for older and less healthy individuals. Under the bill, in order to bypass a state's mental health parity and other benefit mandates, insurers will only have to offer consumers a health insurance plan modeled on a state employee plan in one of the five most populous states. Given the variability among applicable state plans, beneficiaries could find themselves with the most limited of mental health benefits (to include a high deductible plan with virtually no outpatient mental health coverage).

ACTION: All AACAP members are asked to contact their two Senators to request that they vote no on Thursday's cloture vote on HIMMA. Call 1-202-224-3121 to reach the Capitol Switchboard and ask for your Senator, or give your state if you do not know the name of your Senators. When connected to the office, ask for the Health Legislative Assistant. If you leave a voicemail message, include your name and phone number. A sample message is as follows:
"I am a constituent and a practicing child and adolescent psychiatrist from (your town), and I am calling to urge Sen.___ to vote no on the HIMMA, S. 1955, cloture vote. Sen. ___ should oppose S. 1955 because it preempts all state benefit, service and provider mandate laws, including mental health parity laws passed by 39 state legislatures aimed at preventing discriminatory coverage of services and treatment for mental illness. Mental health benefits need to become more comprehensive, rather than more restrictive, to increase access to treatment for youth with mental illness."

After you have talked with your two Senators offices, please email the AACAP Central Office at Smechum@aacap.org.

If you have any questions, please contact the AACAP Dept. of Government Affairs at 800.333.7636, x. 126.

View a complete list of current AACAP Legislative Alerts to learn more about the AACAP's legislative agenda, including the priority workforce shortage legislation, the Child Health Care Crisis Relief Act, H.R.1106/S.537. If you have questions or would like more assistance in contacting your member of Congress, please call 800. 333. 7636, ext. 126, or e-mail Nuala Moore at nmoore@aacap.org.