O'Clair: 'Outrage' is a Good Word

Journal News Letter to The Editor July 9, 2004

As New York state legislators recently adjourned and drove home from Albany, my family and I began to relive the grief we experienced from the suicide of my youngest son, Timothy, three years ago. Our emotional wounds had been ripped open again when the Senate voted down the bill named in memory of Timothy. It was as if we had lost him all over again.

For nearly two years, we have campaigned for passage of Timothy's Law, aimed at ending the discriminatory insurance limitations that those adults and children living with mental health and chemical dependency needs face. In March 2001, after years of struggling against these limits, Timothy hanged himself in his bedroom closet at the age of 12. We firmly believe that had these limits on coverage not prevented us from getting Timothy the treatment he needed, he would be here with us today.

During the two years that we have been fighting for this law, my family and I have asked for nothing more than a leveling of the playing field. We simply want the discrimination faced by those living with mental health and chemical dependency to stop. We want insurance coverage to be equal to that
provided for physical ailments like diabetes and cancer this is known as
"parity.'' The reality is, if Timothy had suffered from cancer instead of depression, there would have been no question as to whether or not he should receive all of the treatment he needed.

As the legislative session drew to a close, negotiations between the Assembly and Senate looked promising. After several rounds of discussions, the Assembly introduced a new version of Timothy's Law in an attempt to address the Senate's primary concern. The new bill provided a tax credit to small businesses to offset the possible increase in premiums that they may experience as a result of Timothy's Law.

At one point, Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno stopped me in the halls of the Capitol to tell me, "We're going to do it.'' Pointing to my Timothy's Law pin, he again said, "We're going to do Timothy's Law!''

However, as the remaining days turned into remaining hours, negotiations fell apart. We were eventually left empty-handed.

The Assembly had already passed Timothy's Law in March. My wife, Donna, and
I watched late that Tuesday night as the Senate voted down Timothy's Law a
bill that 34 of the 37 Republican majority senators co-sponsor and instead
passed a bill that Donna and I believe is not worthy of Timothy's name. Upon its introduction a month earlier, we called the Senate's bill "a far cry from Timothy's Law'' because it excluded employees who work for small businesses from receiving mental-health parity coverage and only covered a handful of diseases. In fact, Timothy would not have been covered under the Senate's bill until just before his suicide.

After the Senate adjourned, many people asked me how I felt, to which I could only reply, " 'Outrage' is a good word.''

The Legislature has left Albany, negotiations have ceased and the future of Timothy's Law remains uncertain. To right the wrong that millions of New Yorkers have been subjected to, due to discriminatory insurance coverage for mental health and chemical dependency needs, the Legislature must continue negotiations and pass meaningful parity legislation when it returns to Albany.

Timothy's name is not worthy of less.

TOM O'CLAIR
(The writer lives in Schenectady.)

Source: Journal News