NAMI Minnesota Legislative Update – Jan. 9, 2011
Frankin Meets with Children’s Mental Health Advocates
On Saturday, Jan. 8, NAMI members, along with staff from St. Joseph’s Home for Children and Catholic Charities, met with U.S. Senator Al Franken to discuss children’s mental health. It was an excellent meeting. Parents told their stories of how they struggle with their son’s or daughter’s mental illness, the blame they sometimes feel, and the difficulty they often have in obtaining services and supports. Senator Franken stated that it must be hard for the parents. But these mothers replied that while it was hard on them, it was even harder on their children.
Issues raised included the need for community-based services (making it easier by changing the “TEFRA” standard), restricting the use of seclusion and restraints in the schools and the importance of school-based mental health services. At the very end of the meeting, Sue Abderholden, NAMI’s executive director, urged Senator Franken to become a champion in the U.S. Senate for children with mental illnesses. NAMI appreciated the time that the Senator took to discuss these important issues.
2011 Session Begins
The 2011 Legislative Session began this week. People were sworn in and the leadership was elected on Tuesday. There were a few committee meetings, but not many. Since everyone had to move offices and there were lots of new staff hired (and others let go) legislators and their staff were mainly trying to arrange furniture, unpack, learn the computer systems, and figure out how to make appointments. The representatives and senators have all now been appointed to committees. We encourage everyone to look up who is representing you and write down what committees they are serving on. This will help you know that types of issues that you will need to be calling or writing them about in the months ahead. Don't know who your legislator is? Click here.
The House committees on Health and Human Services Finance and Health and Human Services Reform met jointly on Wednesday to introduce themselves to each other and the public and to learn more about the human services budget. Rep. Abeler stated that the priorities are for the “disabled, nursing homes and safety net.” He said that there might be other priorities added. Rep. Abeler also said that there will be a need to sort through what is essential, important and nice and we shouldn’t pay for what doesn’t work.
What should be telling to NAMI members is that only ONE legislator on these two committees mentioned mental health as a priority, and that was Rep. Hayden. Two mentioned chemical dependency - Representatives Diane Anderson and Bob Barrett. Some mentioned interest in people with disabilities or the most vulnerable in our society. Others mentioned nursing homes, or Rep. Lanning mentioned people living in poverty since he served on the ending poverty group. There is an action alert in this mailing that each and every one of you needs to respond to.
NAMI is very concerned because frankly, when people say “disability” or “vulnerable” they are not thinking “people with mental illnesses.” Not everyone who has a mental illness becomes “disabled” yet for many of the programs that this committee will fund they do in fact support people who have become disabled by their mental illness. This is a conundrum since we want to support a recovery-based model but on the other hand, if we don’t talk about how it can be disabling we are in danger of losing funding.
This week NAMI met with the new chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, Senator Hann. It was a good meeting and he is eager to learn more about the mental health delivery system. NAMI had met with Rep. Abeler, chair of the House Health and Human Services Committee in December. We talked about the needs of people with mental illnesses and he asked for ideas as to how to cut the budget. Rep. Hosch met with NAMI this week to discuss how to get the Mental Health Legislative Caucus up and going again. This coming week, NAMI has appointments to meet with Representatives Quam and Liebling and Senators Hall and Nienow. If any of these four are your representative or senator, please email them and let them know that as a constituent you are interested in funding for mental health and urge them to use NAMI as a resource.
Action Alert
Since we now know that children and adults with mental illnesses and their families are not being recognized as a major priority in the House Health and Human Services Committees, NAMI members need to let their legislators know that it SHOULD be a priority. What happens when people cannot access treatment? What happens when families don’t obtain the support they need for their children? What happens when people don’t have access to affordable stable housing? What would happen if we lost funding for crisis teams? School-based mental health services? Respite care? Supportive Housing?
All NAMI members are urged to send an e-mail to your legislator if he or she serves on these committees. You can write “Congratulations on your election. I am a NAMI member and I (have a child with a mental illness, a family member, live with, work with, etc.). I hope that you will keep in mind the needs of children and adults with mental illnesses during this difficult legislative session. If people don’t have access to treatment and much needed in-home support in the community then often more expensive care is used or there are terrible personal outcomes such as homelessness, unemployment, residential treatment or suicide (put in more of your story here). Again, let me offer my congratulations and I hope that you will keep my story in mind during the weeks ahead."
Here are the members of these two committees.
Health and Human Services Finance
Jim Abeler – Anoka – 48B
Mary Kiffmeyer – Big Lake – 16B
Thomas Huntley – Duluth – 7A
Nora Slawik – Maplewood – 55B
Diane Anderson – Eagan – 38A
Mary Franson – Alexandria – 11B
Patti Fritz - Faribault – 26B
Steve Gottwalt – St. Cloud – 15A
Rod Hamilton – Mountain Lake – 22B
Jeff Hayden – Mpls – 61B
Larry Hosch – St. Joseph – 14B
Carolyn Laine – Columbia Heights - 50A
Morrie Lanning – Moorhead – 9A
Tina Liebling – Rochester – 30A
Kathy Lohmer – Lake Elmo- 56A
Tara Mack – Apple Valley – 37A
Joe McDonald – Delano – 19B
Carolyn McElfatrick – Deer River – 3B
Erin Murphy – St. Paul – 64A
Joe Schomacker – Luverne – 22A
Health and Human Services Reform Committee
Steve Gottwalt– St. Cloud – 15A
Tara Mack– Apple Valley – 37A
Tina Liebling– Rochester – 30A
Jim Abeler– Anoka – 48B
Bob Barrett – Shafer – 17B
Mike Benson – Rochester – 30B
Mary Franson – Alexandria – 11B
Patti Fritz – Faribault – 26B
Glenn Gruenhagen – Glencoe – 25A
Larry Hosch – St. Joseph – 14B
Thomas Huntley – Duluth – 7A
Mary Kiffmeyer – Big Lake – 16B
Diane Loeffler – Mpls – 59A
Kathy Lohmer – Lake Elmo – 56A
Joe McDonald – Delano - 19B
Carolyn McElfatrick – Deer River – 3B
Rena Moran – St. Paul – 65A
Erin Murphy – St. Paul – 64A
Kim Norton – Rochester – 29B
Sandra Peterson – New Hope – 45A
Duane Quam – Byron – 29A
Save The Date: Feb 1 – ITV Legislative Information Session
NAMI Minnesota is collaborating with the Mental Health/Consumer Survivor Network of Minnesota and the Minnesota Association of Community Mental Health Programs to hold an information session statewide via Interactive Television. This year’s session is going to be one of the toughest in a long time and it’s important that NAMI members be informed and ready to take action. At this event, people can come together to learn more about the key issues facing the 2011 Legislature and how to contact their legislators. Locations are still being confirmed. Visit the NAMI Minnesota website for more information and to find a location near you.
The locations confirmed so far include:
Human Development Center in Duluth and Grand Marais
Lakeland Mental Health Center in Fergus Falls
Family Life Mental Health Center in Coon Rapids
Northwestern Mental Health Center in Crookston
Five County Mental Health Center in North Branch and Milaca
Mental Health Resource in St. Paul
Northern Pines Mental Health Center in Brainerd
Federal News
Re-Entry
Attorney General Eric Holder today convened the inaugural meeting of the Cabinet-level "Reentry Council" in Washington to identify and to advance effective public safety and prisoner reentry strategies.
In addition to the Attorney General, the council includes Departments of Education Secretary Arne Duncan; Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius; Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack; Interior Secretary Ken Salazar; Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan; Labor Secretary Hilda Solis; and Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki. Members also include Commissioner of the Social Security Administration, Michael Astrue; Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, R. Gil Kerlikowske; Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, Melody Barnes; Executive Director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, Joshua DuBois; and Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Jacqueline Berrien.
The council will address short-term and long-term goals through enhanced communication, coordination and collaboration across federal agencies. The mission of the council is threefold: to make communities safer by reducing recidivism and victimization; to assist those returning from prison and jail in becoming productive, tax paying citizens; and to save taxpayer dollars by lowering the direct and collateral costs of incarceration.
"Reentry provides a major opportunity to reduce recidivism, save taxpayer dollars and make our communities safer," said Attorney General Holder. "More than two million people are behind bars, and 95 percent of them will be released back into their communities. By developing effective, evidence-based reentry programs, we can improve public safety and community well-being."
Among its goals, the Reentry Council will meet semi-annually to leverage resources across agencies to reduce recidivism and victimization; identify evidence-based practices that advance the council’s mission; promote changes to federal statutes, policies and practices that focus on reducing crime; and identify federal policy opportunities and barriers to improve outcomes for the reentry community.
The council will be supported by an interagency staff group from 16 federal departments and office. Since first convening in September 2010, the group has produced a collaborative "Inventory of Federal Resources Focusing on Prisoner Reentry at the State and Local Levels" and has worked with Justice Department grantee, the National Reentry Resource Center, to succinctly map out the various investments directed to the reentry population from across the administration (www.nationalreentryresourcecenter.org/national-criminal-justice-initiatives-map).
In Fiscal Year 2010, the Department of Justice awarded $100 million to support 178 state and local reentry grants to provide a wide range of services.
Health Reform Implementation
Several key components of the health care reform bill went into effect in January. They include:
* Health Homes State Option under Medicaid: Minnesota may now amend its state Medicaid plan to develop health care homes which can include chronic disease management (including mental health)
* Closing the Donut Hole: Pharmaceutical companies will provide a 50% discount on brand-name drugs for Medicare beneficiaries who reach the donut hole in 2011.
* Free Medicare Preventive Benefits: Certain preventive benefits in Medicare, including annual wellness visits, are now available without a co-pay.
* Primary Care Payment Increase: A 10% increase in Medicare payments for primary care went into effect Jan. 1.
* Minimum Medical Loss Ratio: Insurance companies must now spend at least 80-85% of consumers’ premiums on paying for patient care, rather than administrative costs or profit.
* Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation: The new Center is tasked with examining delivery system and payment reforms that will save money and improve the quality of care.
* Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS): CLASS is a voluntary, long-term care insurance program for the purchase of home- and community-based services by individuals with functional impairments.
Thanks to the National Community Behavioral Health Council for this information.