Friday, September 12, 2003
For Patients' Rights, a Quiet Fadeaway Washington Post article called to our attention by the outstanding
Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report - "... the crusade for patients' rights has faded from view -- both at the White House and in Congress. Apart from one sentence in his State of the Union address in January, Bush has not mentioned the topic all year. The father of the patients' rights movement in Congress, Rep. Charles Whitlow Norwood Jr. (R-Ga.), resurrected legislation in March so half-heartedly that he decided not to seek any co-sponsors. In the Senate, the issue's main champions have not even gone through the motions of filing a bill. It was two years ago that the drive to protect the nation's patients crested, when Bush and Norwood reached an agreement on the issue's most divisive aspect: how much recourse to give patients in the courts if their health plans deprive them of care. The House accepted the surprise deal, but more than a year of negotiations between the White House and the Senate quietly ended in an impasse..."
VA Overhaul May Limit Vets' Access to Care ABC News story - "Senators on Thursday said they were worried that a major overhaul of the Veterans Affairs Department health care system would deprive some veterans of access to treatment. ... The top lawmakers on the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, chairman Christopher Smith, R-N.J., and Rep. Lane Evans, D-Ill., also wrote Alvarez recently saying one of their greatest concerns was whether the process adequately addressed such specialized VA programs as geriatrics, long-term care, mental health, substance abuse and homelessness."
NAMI Applauds Governor Howard Dean on Mental Health Reform NAMI press release at
Yahoo - "NAMI, the Nation's Voice on Mental Illness, has praised the mental health reform agenda being announced today in New Hampshire by presidential candidate Howard Dean. NAMI National Executive Director Richard C. Birkel, Ph.D. issued the following statement: 'Governor Dean deserves America's thanks for his proposals to move the nation's mental health system forward, out of the shadow of too many broken promises and a sorry state of perpetual crisis. He has set down a marker for the 2004 presidential election. He has done so distinctly, early in the electoral process -- in a manner that is rare, if not unprecedented, for a presidential campaign. As the Nation's Voice on Mental Illness, NAMI is non-partisan. We do not endorse candidates. Mental illness is not a partisan issue. Mental disorders such as severe depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and anxiety disorders affect Republican and Democratic families alike. One in four Americans will be affected by mental illness at some point in their lifetime. No one is immune.' " See also
Mental Health Advocates' Statement on Dean Mental Health Agenda (
Ascirbe Newswire) on the reaction of the Campaign for Mental Health Reform. [
Editor's note - From time to time, readers will find links here to news stories and articles on proposals and positions put forth by various political candidates. The inclusion of such material is not intended to advocate for or against any particular candidates or views, and should not be understood as such, but rather as part of an effort to distribute information of interest to readers and to help contribute to the overall quality of discourse on issues related to mental health. - BD]
