Posted by gardenergirl on July 2, 2004, at 20:53:17
In reply to Re: How much does a good therapist charge?, posted by Jai Narayan on July 2, 2004, at 20:23:48
I've been working hard to advocate for federal and state mental health parity (meaning insurance coverage for mental health would be equal to coverage for physical health as long as mental health coverage is offered by the company.) The "Paul Wellstone Mental Health Equitable Treatment Act” (S. 486/H.R. 953) currently has more than enough sponsors to pass in the Senate, but Speaker Hastert in the House has refused to bring it to the floor for a vote. He has apparently been influenced by insurance lobbyists.
There is a website run by the American Psychological Association's Practice Division which has a link where you can easily send an email to your Senators and Representatives asking them to support this important legislation. You can access this site at http://www.apapractice.org/#
Just enter your zip code in the box in the right column labelled legislative action center and follow the instructions. It's very simple.The only modification you need to make to the pre-written letter (although you can write your own or modify it as you wish) is to change the "I am writing as a constituent and a psychologist" part. You can leave it as constituent if that is true, and/or change it to your own profession. There is also the option to add your personal experiences, which is really helpful in getting your letter read. But please know that every letter counts. If a legislator gets ten letters on a topic, it puts it high on the list for attention.
Please consider taking five minutes to contact your legislators to impress on them the importance of this legislation. If anyone has any questions or would like some help with this, please feel free to email me at gardenergirl88 at yahoo dot com
Thanks for your support. Even if you disagree with the legislation, make your voice heard. That is what our forefathers and mothers fought so hard for more than 200 years ago.
Thanks, (stepping down from my soapbox now)
gg
poster:gardenergirl
thread:362407
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20040624/msgs/362701.html