<p><span style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;">Vermont Governor Howard Dean today took a significant step towards ending insurance discrimination against people with brain disorders.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;">Earlier this year, PacifiCare, California's second largest health maintenance organization (HMO), removed two antidepressants, Prozac and Zoloft, and one antipsychotic, Risperdal, from its list of covered drugs -- a decision which leaves consumers with few choices in drug therapy. This policy limitation will affect more than 15 percent of the 2 million members who belong to PacifiCare.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;">One in three individuals with severe mental illness has been turned down for a job for which they were qualified because of a psychiatric label, according to a new study released today at the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting by the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI).</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;">Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association, will lead a tribute to U.S. Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Mrs. Nancy Domenici hosted by the New Mexico state affiliate of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI).</span></p>
<p>The Missouri legislature has a unique opportunity to rectify a great wrong. For too long, people with severe mental illnesses have been denied adequate health insurance coverage. HB 335 would establish nondiscriminatory parity coverage in managed healthcare plans for major mental illnesses.</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;">We commend Janssen Pharmaceutica for launching its "Person-to-Person" initiative. This innovative program will provide a valuable support service to persons with schizophrenia, to their families, and to health care providers. Through a program that strengthens the link between patients, family members, and the health care system, "Person-to-Person" can be a useful tool in rebuilding lives interrupted by a debilitating brain disorder.</span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;">The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) has serious concerns about inadequate services for people who are disabled by serious brain disorders such as schizophrenia and severe mood and anxiety disorders under the TennCare Partners Program.</span></p>
<p>Colorado has joined the ranks of an elite group of states intolerant of insurance discrimination against people with severe mental illnesses, a move lauded by the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI).</p>
<p><span style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;">Open your mind and flex those synapses. Test your knowledge about mental illnesses.</span></p>
<p>On March 23 & 24 two focus groups were convened to review Episode L504 and Episode L505 of a new ABC television series called Wonderland.</p>
NAMI HelpLine is available M-F, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. ET. Call 800-950-6264,
text “NAMI” to 62640, or chat online. In a crisis, call or text 988 (24/7).