WISCONSIN UNITED
for MENTAL HEALTH

February 25, 2008

Dear friends (the more than 550 of you who were able to come to Madison for Mental Health Parity Action Day and the countless others who are advocating from home),

Thank you one and all for the many ways you contributed to the tremendous success of our Mental Health Parity Action Day. I smile as I write, remembering vivid images of that triumphant day and savoring the congratulations that came from many quarters.

To relive the moment with me, click the links below to access both a photo gallery and some of the press coverage of the event:  http://ltgov.wisconsin.gov/scrapbook_view.asp?ssid=167&locid=126

I will never forget the sight of the capitol rotunda brimming over with our determined crowd in sunny yellow t-shirts, taking in the inspirational words of SB 375 co-sponsors Senator Dave Hansen and Representative Sheryl Albers. Nor the bipartisan line up of legislators who also signed on, there to express their appreciation for such a large and smart and visible constituency to support them.

I will also remember your gracious accommodation to tight quarters at the funky Majestic, and the generosity of so many who volunteered to make this day happen. Members of Wisconsin’s legislature will long remember the most articulate and effective citizen lobbyists they have ever welcomed into their offices. I know that because so many have already taken pains to tell me.

It was a triumph. But our work is not done.

Today, Rep. Albers released the bill for co-sponsorship in the Assembly (LRB 3794/2). As she explained last Wednesday, the next challenge lies in ensuring that Mental Health Parity receives a committee hearing in the Assembly so it may move to the floor for a vote. You can help make that happen by calling or writing to Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch (contact information below) to ask him to assign the bill to the Public Health Committee, chaired by Representative “Doc” Hines, who promises to give it a hearing.

If you lead an organization, I suggest you invite all your members to communicate with the Speaker, to remind him of a leader’s responsibility to give all our representatives a chance to weigh in on Mental Health Parity (SB 375 or Assembly LRB 3794/2).

You gave this bill a powerful and jubilant launch. Let us carry on and work together to close the deal, to deliver it to Governor Doyle’s desk before the close of this legislative session.

With my gratitude and warm regards,

Barbara Lawton
Lieutenant Governor

Speaker Mike Huebsch Contact Information:
P.O. Box 8952
Madison, WI 53708
Rep.Huebsch@legis.state.wi.us
888-534-0094/608-266-2401

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January 2008

An excellent mental health parity bill -LRB 1049/5- with the bipartisan team of State Senator Dave Hansen and State Representative Sheryl Albers as lead sponsors, is circulating among the rest of the legislature with an invitation to sign on as co-sponsors.

Many of you were part of the historic effort to connect Wisconsin families to free depression screening. Widespread support for that effort was built on recognition of the economic impact of higher medical costs and loss of productivity that accompanies untreated mental illness. If we just account for depression, which affects at least 16% of all Americans, we discover that medical costs of untreated depressed people average twice those of the non-depressed, and that those suffering untreated depression are seven times more likely to be unemployed or underemployed.

With your help, we extended a personal invitation for a free depression screening to more than 750,000 people in our state. We want to make history again, in a way that will have an immediate and significant impact on our state's economy, and on the well-being of tens of thousands of Wisconsin families. We want to guide a bill to enact mental health parity in insurance coverage all the way through to Governor Doyle's desk for his signature.

I invite you to join me in closing the deal, making our legislators' constituency for mental health parity visible and the message vivid and powerful. Join hundreds of people from every walk of life and every legislative district on February 20, 2008 in Madison for Mental Health Parity Action Day.

Please contact Cecely Castillo in my office (cecely.castillo@wisconsin.gov) to
* Join the list of individuals and organizations supporting mental health parity here.
* Confirm your participation in Mental Health Parity Action Day.
* Starting January 1st you can register online for Parity Action Day at www.ltgov.wisconsin.gov. Until then you can contact Cecely to sign up.

Then please forward this letter to everyone you know and ask them to be part of our historic work.

We want our magnificent Capitol to spill over with all of us who are determined to put the health and well-being of our citizens and our economy at the top of the agenda. We want to take Wisconsin out of the sorry group of only eight states still waiting to enact mental health parity.

You can make that happen. Thank you for your continued help and generous good will.

Truly yours,

Barbara Lawton
Lieutenant Governor

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MONTHLY FEATURE: NOVEMBER 2007

November 11 is Veterans Day. How timely that just weeks ago the U.S. House and Senate passed a bill that will address the high rate of suicide in our Veterans. The Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act calls for increased screening and treatment programs, as well as education for staff, veterans and their families. Peer counseling, hotlines and additional research are addressed as well.

For more information from WUMH: Mental Health Issues of Military Personnel

This November, NAMI launched its Veterans Resource Center, an online portal to mental health resources for America's veterans, active duty service members, and their families.

To learn more about Bill H.R. 327 visit The Library of Congress's website or "VA Told to Establish Multiple Suicide Prevention Programs," an article by Psychiatric News.