Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Assemblyman Paul Tonko today called on the Senate to pass Timothy's Law, a mental-health parity bill (A.2912-A) approved by the Assembly with bipartisan support earlier this year so a joint conference committee can work out a compromise between each house's legislation.

In strongly urging immediate Senate action, Silver and Tonko stressed the need to enact a law this year that would end discrimination against mental health and addiction treatment by insurance companies in New York State.

They were joined by Assembly Insurance Committee Chair Alexander "Pete" Grannis and Assemblyman Peter Rivera, chair of the Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Committee, in urging the Senate to meet the Assembly in a conference committee to resolve differences between the respective bills once the Senate had passed its legislation.

The bill is known as Timothy's Law, for Timothy O'Clair of Rotterdam, New York, who took his own life before his 13th birthday. Tom O'Clair, Timothy's father, and other members of the O'Clair family have participated in many news conferences at the Capitol to explain their painful loss and the suffering they continue to experience because they lacked adequate health-insurance coverage required to provide Timothy with the treatment he desperately needed.

"Timothy's Law has been a top priority of the Assembly for several years now. Too many people are suffering because they don't have the health insurance they need. This bill establishes the rights of those who need mental-health care or addiction treatment so that these individuals will no longer be second-class citizens in our health-insurance system," said Silver. "We urge the Senate to recognize the severity of this health-care crisis and quickly pass this critical piece of legislation so we can meet in conference committee and agree on a bill that can become law this year."

"Each year, health plans continue to cut back on coverage for mental-health care and addiction treatment. Our parents, children, friends and families cannot continue to stand by and watch insurance coverage for these treatments erode from year to year. Most families can't afford to pay out-of-pocket for expensive care, whether it be outpatient counseling, rehabilitation or inpatient care," said Tonko, the bill's sponsor.

Timothy's Law is supported by more than 320 state organizations united under the Timothy's Law Campaign, including Alcohol and Substance Abuse Providers of New York State; Coalition for the Homeless; Coalition of Voluntary Mental Health Agencies; Families Together in New York State; Mental Health Association in New York State; National Alliance on Mental Illness in New York State; New York Association of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services; New York State Coalition for Children's Mental Health Services; New York State Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare; New York State Psychiatric Association; New York State Psychological Association; New York State Rehabilitation Association; and Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy.