Call Your Legislators and Leadership TODAY to Express Support & Urge a Vote on Legislation Requiring Insurers and Health Plans To Submit Key Compliance Data with Federal and State Parity Laws.
Calls and emails are needed for full implementation of Mental Health & Substance Use Disorder Parity Laws!
With only a handful of days left in the Legislative Session, it is imperative you call or email your legislators and Senate and Assembly leadership TODAY to express strong support for legislation (S.1156-C/A.3694-C), which directs the Superintendent of the Department of Financial Services to collect certain key data and matrixes from insurers and health plans in order to scrutinize and analyze if they are in compliance with the federal and state mental health and substance use (MH/SUD) disorder parity laws. The information collected would be analyzed and used for the preparation of a parity compliance report in the annual “Consumer Guide to Health Insurers” issued by Department of Financial Services. Now more than ever, this legislation is needed as New York faces an increasing number of suicides and opioids deaths.
It is critical that you make your voice heard today to ensure full implementation of mental health and substance use disorder parity laws and reduce patterns of disparity between coverage criteria imposed on MH/SUD care and treatment as compared to other covered services!
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Call and email your Senate and Assembly Members express your strong support for NYS bill S.1156-C/A.3694-C! |
Action Steps Needed
Please call or write to:
(1) Your Senator AND Assemblymember – Call the main Senate and Assembly switchboards and asked to be connected to your local legislator:
NYS Legislature Switchboard:
Senate: 518-455-2800
Assembly: 518-455-4100
Find your NYS Senator
Click here to find your NYS Senator
Find your NYS Assemblymember
Click here to find your NYS Assemblymember
(2) Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan – Albany Office Number: (518) 455-2071
(3) Senate Minority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins – Albany Office: (518) 455-2071
(4) Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie – Albany Office Number: (518) 455-3791
(5) Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb – Albany Office: (518) 455-3751
To send an email, visit the Senator or Assemblymember’s official Senate or Assembly web page.
Sample Script/Message
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Hi, my name is ___________________. I am a constituent and/or treat constituents of Senator or Assemblymember _____________ ‘s district. I am calling today to: (1) identify myself as a constituent and/or [psychiatrist; psychologist; social worker; family advocate; peer] who strongly supports legislation (S.1156-C/A.3694-C) requiring insurers and health plans to annually disclose information and data necessary to evaluate their compliance with Federal and State mental health and substance use disorder (MH/SUD) parity laws. Although MH/SUD parity laws have been on the books for a decade on the federal level and more than twelve years in New York State, there still exists within the health insurance and health plan industry patterns of disparity between coverage criteria imposed on MH/SUD care and treatment as compared to other covered services. Hence, this legislation is an important mechanism for moving forward with full implementation with the parity laws, a critical component to assuring continued access to care. Please support this bill and urge it be brought to the floor for a vote before the end of the session! |
Why is this legislation so important and needed NOW?
This legislation is important because
- The current enforcement & compliance system is complaint driven — putting the onus on consumers!
- This legislation is extremely important as we know non-compliance persists, which unnecessarily delays and/or denies access to care for MH/SUD.
- The eight settlements/agreements the New York Attorney General reached with several major insurers, health plans, and managers of behavioral health benefits found significant acts of non-compliance, including:
- applying more stringent and frequent utilization review for MH/SUD as compared to medical/surgical benefits;
- denying care and treatment for mental health and substance use disorders at higher rates;
- imposing a higher/specialist copayment rate for outpatient mental health and substance use disorder care than for outpatient/medical surgical care; and
- using criteria and models inconsistent with the laws and regulations of the State.
- Now more than ever, this legislation is needed as New York faces an increasing number of suicides and opioids deaths.
- Recent CDC data shows a 28.8% increase in suicide in New York State between 1999 to 2016. Suicide is now the 10th leading cause of death with the number of suicide (nationally) surpassing the number of deaths by automobile accidents, homicides, and breast cancer. According to a recent OMH report and plan on suicide prevention, “1,700 New Yorkers died by suicide in 2014. Only four states in the country had a higher number.”
- Nearly 3,600 opioid deaths occurred in 2016 (a 135% increase between 2013-2016).
- Compliance with the parity laws is critical to assuring access to care and treatment.
- Under this legislation, insurers and health plans would have to submit data on: network adequacy; rates of utilization review; rates of adverse determinations; percentage of claims paid for in-network and out-of-network MH/SUD care and treatment; percentage of providers who remained in network; network adequacy; and any other data or metric the Superintendent deems necessary to evaluate compliance with the MH/SUD parity laws.
Author: Amelia Lochner Malavé
NASW-NYS