NAMI
National Alliance on Mental Illness
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(800) 950-NAMI; info@nami.org
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NAMI's Key Messages to Congress on Health Care Reform

NAMI’s basic message to Congress is:

  1. Move this year on health care reform legislation that provides quality and affordable health care for all while reducing the rate of growth in health care costs in the future;
  2. Ensure that mental illness treatment is included as part of any required basic benefit package AND is covered at parity; and
  3. Address medical co-morbidities experienced by individuals with serious mental illness through expanded access to primary care and early intervention services.

In addition, NAMI urges that any health care reform package should include:

  • Adequate financing in order to guarantee that health reform lives up to its promise of delivering comprehensive, affordable coverage;
  • Income-based standards for premiums, co-payments, deductibles and all out-of-pocket health care costs;
  • Premium subsidies on a sliding scale up to 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Level along with limits on cost sharing so health coverage is affordable for all American families;
  • An expansion of Medicaid that strengthens and maintains Medicaid’s role as the base of coverage for current mandatory beneficiaries;
  • Improvements to portability, enrollment, and renewal to maximize coverage, minimize red tape, and provide stability for all Americans;
  • Regulations that prevent insurance companies from discriminating based on health status, gender, and occupation;
  • Guarantees that quality, affordable health care coverage is available across the country and that individuals and families have options in selecting health plans;
  • Financial support and incentives for primary community-based care – especially for children and adults living with serious mental illness;
  • Adequate cost savings to improve long-range fiscal stability;
  • A strong employer responsibility requirement with penalties for those employers who do not offer coverage based on total payroll rather than penalties tied only to employees who receive income subsidies;
  • Sufficient assistance for states so that federal health reform does not impose an unnecessary burden on already strained state budgets, and that does not punish states that have chosen to expand Medicaid and SCHIP coverage above federal requirements.

 

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