New York Daily News - http://www.nydailynews.com

Push for Psych Care
BY BOB KAPPSTATTER
DAILY NEWS BRONX BUREAU CHIEF

Friday, May 6th, 2005

A coalition of politicians and health care providers pushed yesterday for passage of a law named for a young suicide victim whose insurance lacked adequate mental-health coverage. They gathered on what would have been Timothy O'Clair's 17th birthday. The Schenectady boy committed suicide at age 12 after suffering from depression for years while his family was denied adequate mental health insurance coverage.

May is National Mental Health Month, and the coalition brought together at the Bronx Psychiatric Center yesterday by state Sen. Jeff Klein and Dr. Derek Suite of Full Circle Health called on Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno to pass a Timothy's Law as previously passed by the state Assembly.

Most insurance plans only pay for 20 visits a year, and co-payments for mental health care are as high as 50% of the customary fee to see a doctor. With high co-pays, once patients reach their visit limits, it is prohibitive for many to afford much-needed mental health services.

"Here in the Bronx and Westchester, families and their employers spend an enormous amount of money on health insurance coverage, but mental illness is not covered adequately, and so families are left to pay the bills," said Klein (D-North Bronx).
"It is time to pass Timothy's Law so our health care system can address mental illness and substance abuse, which cause great pain to families, and cost our businesses billions of dollars in lost productivity."

The law would eliminate discriminatory and unequal mental health and substance abuse coverage by insurance companies. "Many doctors, nurses and counselors have worked hard to erase the stigma attached to mental illness so that we can get to the important business of healing," Suite said. "Mental health treatment can literally be a life-saver, and that's why we need Timothy's Law: to make sure that treatment is available to the people who need it."