Say you have health insurance. You haven't felt well for a long time and then one day, you have a health crisis and you must go to the ER. Imagine having shortness of breath, crushing pain running down your arm, dizziness and other symptoms. Tests are run, medication administered. Results are inconclusive, and you are admitted to the main hospital for observation.

Then months later, you receive a final-decision claim denial letter, followed by a hospital bill of over $10,000 BECAUSE...

...an independent "expert" in some other state reviewed your case and decided, as the Almighty Claim Reviewer, that you did not in fact need to be admitted for your hospital stay since once you were transported from the ER, you were no longer in a life-threatening situation!

This is what happened to someone close to me, over and over, for years. This is what happens to millions of people in this country every year. Unbelievably upsetting.

What the legislation is:

• This historic legislation is a victory for millions of Americans living with mental illnesses who face unfair discrimination in co-payments, doctor's visits and hospital stays. The bill will require group health insurance plans to cover mental illness and substance abuse disorders on the same Americans now will be able to get treatment when they need it.

Thank you to the Leadership!

• NAMI is profoundly grateful to the bipartisan leadership on this important issue and thanks nRepresentatives Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) and Jim Ramstad (R-MN), as well as Senators Pete Domenici (R-NM), Ted Kennedy (D-MA), and Mike Enzi (R-WY), for their commitment in sponsoring the legislation.

What is National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)?

• NAMI is the nation's largest organization representing individuals and families who live with serious mental illness. For 20 years, NAMI has fought for health insurance parity laws to ensure that employer health plans offer equitable coverage for medical illnesses such as major depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and severe anxiety disorders.

This is my second lens on the subject of how NAMI helps people touched by mental illnesses, giving hope to so many who battled the system. This legislation will take a year to go into effect, but if you need help in the meantime, please visit the NAMI website for more information, resources and your local chapter.

Links to help your life go on better:
www.nami.org

Advocate Magazine

Coping With Your Loved One's Mental Illness: Help for You!