NYAPRS Note: There are 2 bills currently under consideration by Congress that look at mental health system reform. The bills, sponsored by Reps. Tim Murphy R-PA and Ron Barber D-AZ, both seek to enhance criminal justice, suicide, children’s, veterans and workforce related initiatives but disagree on a number of other important issues, including how to reshape federal agency efforts, give incentives to states via federal block grant funds, use Medicaid to pay for inpatient psychiatric treatment and how to regard protection and advocacy groups.
Last week, the Albany Times Union featured a commentary (http://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Politics-imperil-treatment-5546020.php) that claimed that NY Rep. Paul Tonko was infusing politics into the debate by co-sponsoring the Barber bill.
A broad variety of national and state advocacy groups have taken a diversity of opinions about the critically important issues that require our action. For example, NYAPRS has been engaged in numerous discussions with Reps. Murphy and Tonko, a group launched by former Rep. Patrick Kennedy and many national advocacy groups in an effort to identify and advocate for what we consider the best remedies we find in both bills. We ultimately endorsed the Barber bill (http://www.nyaprs.org/e-news-bulletins/2014/006288.cfm).
As sponsor of one of the nation’s strongest state mental health parity bills when he served in the NYS Assembly, Rep. Tonko’s motives and level of commitment to mental health reforms should not be deprecated in an effort to back a differing proposal. These issues require thoughtful consideration and collaboration and efforts to characterize Tonko’s and other divergent opinions as merely political must be rejected.
Following is Rep. Tonko’s reply in this morning’s Times Union.
It’s Not The Time For Bickering
By Paul Tonko, Commentary Albany Times Union June 19, 2014
In 2001, I had the honor of meeting a Little Leaguer from Rotterdam named Timothy O’Clair. Timothy was a bright and energetic young man who suffered from debilitating mental illnesses. When Timothy’s insurance would no longer cover his mental health treatment, his parents were forced to disown him in order to get care. Tragically, at age 12, Timothy took his own life. The mental health system utterly failed him.
In response, I fought to make the system better. Working across party lines, I led the push in New York to pass Timothy’s Law, which ensured that insurance companies could not discriminate against mental health care. In Washington, I have continued my advocacy for the mentally ill by strengthening mental health parity protections and helping to pass the Affordable Care Act, which has improved mental health benefits for more than 60 million Americans.
Having spent much of my career working to better our mental health system, I found the insinuation in a June 11 commentary that I would ever put partisan politics before the needs of the mentally ill not only wrong, but highly insulting. Such a crass and simplistic conclusion belies the fact that there are major substantive differences in how two bills currently being considered in the House of Representatives would address the needs of the mentally ill. Such personal attacks are precisely the type of shameful politics that the country is upset with today.
As an engineer, my approach to legislating has always been to relentlessly find solutions to our nation’s pressing problems, regardless of party affiliation. When it comes to mental health, the best answer is not to cut hundreds of millions of dollars out of programs that help schools support mental health professionals and the National Suicide Prevention Hotline, which has answered millions of calls since 2005. Likewise, the path forward is not to diminish the rights of those with mental illness and eviscerate organizations that exist to protect the mentally ill from abuse and neglect.
Those are just a few of the “solutions” put forward in Rep. Tim Murphy’s bill, and I would oppose these provisions whether they were introduced by Republicans or Democrats. To be clear, I know Murphy’s intentions are good, but I strongly disagree with his policy approach.
By contrast, the Strengthening Mental Health in our Communities Act, introduced by my colleague Rep. Ron Barber, who possesses 32 years of experience in the mental health field, builds a solid foundation to prevent mental health crises before they occur. That is why I joined my colleagues in authoring this piece of legislation. This bill would maximize access to and increase the impact of community-based mental health services, making new investments in prevention and early intervention of mental illness, and advancing research into mental health. This effort represents a new, inclusive and far-reaching approach to fighting mental illness.
While I have articulated my legislative vision for mental health reform, I don’t have the audacity to believe that I alone have all the solutions to fix our failing mental health system. I have made clear in numerous meetings with mental health advocates from the Capital Region and beyond that I possess the willingness and drive to work with anyone to get this job done. Mental health is not and cannot become a partisan issue. What matters most are solutions for countless individuals and families suffering with the impacts of mental illness, not partisan bickering.
I will continue to give all I have to fight for families like the O’Clairs and advance thoughtful legislation that addresses the true needs of the mentally ill in our country.
Paul Tonko is a Democratic congressman, representing New York’s 20th district.
http://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/It-s-not-the-time-for-bickering-5565156.php