News
From the
NAMI
National
Conference
On
June 29,
NAMI BA
Board
member
Carol
Ziolo
and I
joined
eight
other
area
NAMI
members
as the
Illinois
delegation
to the
NAMI
National
Conference
in
Washington
DC.
The
conference
ran
through
July 3,
and some
of the
Illinois
delegates
stayed
through
the
Fourth
of July
and
joined
the
celebrations
on the
Mall. I
didn’t
stay,
but the
people
who
did
reported
that
they had
a
marvelous
time –
music,
bands,
singing
and
wonderful
fireworks
over the
Capitol.
At
the
conference
there
were
numerous
breakout
sessions
on a
variety
of
mental
health
topics.
There
were
general
sessions
on how
healthcare
reform
will
benefit
people
with
mental
illness
and on
the
latest
research
into
schizophrenia.
There
were
also
“ask the
doctor
sessions”
by brain
researchers
and
psychiatrists
as well
as a
preview
screening
of a
wonderful
new
film,
Unlisted:
A Story
of
Schizophrenia,
which
will be
shown on
many PBS
stations
in
October
as part
of
Mental
Health
Awareness
Week.
(Check
out
the
film’s
website
http://www.unlistedfilm.com/
for more
details.)
The
sessions
on how
healthcare
reform
will
affect
people
with
mental
illness
was very
interesting.
Regardless
of your
feelings
about
the
health
care
reform
law in
general,
the
parts
dealing
with
mental
illness
will be
very
helpful
for
people
living
with
these
brain
disorders
and for
their
family
members
as well.
First
of all,
when the
bill is
fully
implemented
in 2014,
access
to
Medicaid
will be
based
on
income
only,
and it
will not
be just
for the
very
poorest
of the
poor and
the most
severely
disabled,
as it is
now.
Under
the new
requirements
applicants
can have
income
up to
138% of
the
poverty
level
and will
not have
to
qualify
for SSI
or any
other
disability
program
as they
do now
in many
places.
In
addition,
the law
bans
exclusion
for
pre-existing
conditions,
including
mental
illness,
exclusions
which
currently
deny
many
consumers
coverage.
There
will
also be
healthcare
exchanges
where
people
who do
not have
group
coverage
through
their
employers
will be
able to
buy
insurance
at a
controlled
cost.
Insurance
bought
through
the
exchanges
will
have to
offer
mental
health
and
substance
abuse
coverage
and will
have to
comply
with the
previously
enacted
Wellstone-Dominici
insurance
parity
act. All
of this
is great
news for
consumers
and
their
families.
Not all
of these
benefits
go into
effect
immediately,
so for
more
information,
check
out this
page on
NAMI’s
website:
9
For
me, one
of the
highlights
of the
convention
was the
time
spend
lobbying
on
Capitol
Hill.
Conference
planners
had
scheduled
most of
one day
to allow
convention
goers to
talk
with
their
Representatives
and
Senators
about
mental
health
issues.
NAMI’s
government
relations
department
had
prepared
very
informative
packets
and
information
sheets
to leave
with
legislators.
Carol
Ziolo
and I
joined
with
Susan
Ling and
Pam
Huffman
from
NAMI
McHenry
and
Angela
Adkins
from
NAMI
DuPage
to visit
several
Illinois
legislators
and/or
their
staff
members.
All in
all we
met with
Sentors
Durbin
and
Burris,
and with
their
staffers
who
deal
with
mental
health
issues,
with
Representative
Peter
Roskam
and with
Representative
Jan
Shakowsk’s
Chief of
Staff.
All
except
Representative
Roskam
were
very
supportive
of
mental
health
issues
and of
support
for
better
funding
of
programs
for
treating
mental
illness,
but they
were
alarmed
at the
anti-deficit/anti
tax
fever
that
seems
to be
sweeping
the
capitol.
Senator
Durbin
said it
best: “I
know
people
don’t
want
their
children
to live
in a
future
swimming
in debt,
but does
that
mean
they
want
their
children
living
in a
future
where
people
with
mental
illness
are
ignored
and cast
out?” He
thought
we could
fix both
problems.
Senator
Durbin
is also
very
concerned
about
the
increasing
criminalization
of
mental
illness
and all
the
people
we met,
with the
possible
exception
of
Representative
Roskam,
are
aware of
the
waste of
money
when our
principal
mental
health
treatment
system
is our
jails
and
prisons!
One
final
note
regarding
our
visit to
Capitol
Hill: If
you’ll
look at
the
picture
of us,
we’re
all
wearing
blue
sashes.
They had
NAMI’s
logo on
them and
the
words
“Mental
Health
Gets My
Vote.”
Every
group
coming
to
Capitol
Hill to
meet
legislators
wears
buttons
or
stickers,
but
these
sashes
were a
real eye
catcher.
We saw
them all
over the
House
and
Senate
office
buildings,
and many
people
we ran
across
in the
halls
and
elevators
asked
about
them.
That
gave us
a
perfect
opportunity
to tell
them
about
NAMI and
what
we are
up to.
The
conference
also
featured
a NAMI
book
store,
book
signings,
presentations
by
legislators
and
other
government
officials,
including
Thomas
Insel,
the
director
of the
NIMH,
and Pam
Hyde the
head of
SAMHSA,
the
Substance
Abuse
and
Mental
Health
Services
Administration.
Next
year’s
the NAMI
National
Conference
will be
in
Chicago,
July
6-9,
2011 at
the
Hilton
Hotel.
You
won’t
want to
miss it!
