Official urges public to support mental health insurance parity
BY PAUL COLLINS
THE CHRONICLE
Andy Hagler, executive
director of the Mental Health
Association of Forsyth County
Inc.. urges the public to support
a mental health insurance parity
bill that has been introduced in
the U.S. House of Representa
tives.
The Mental Health Equi
table Treatment Act of 2002
would provide for equal cover
age of mental health benefits
with respect to health insurance
coverage unless comparable
limitations are imposed on
medical and surgical benefits.
Hagler. an advocate for
mental health, said parity
means that insurance compa
nies would have to provide the
same level of coverage for men
tal health and physical illnesses.
He urges people to take a look
at their insurance coverage now
and compare the maximum life
time benefit for physical illness
and the maximum lifetime ben
efit for mental health and sub
stance abuse. Chances are,
Hagler said, the insurance poli
cy will offer much greater ben
efits for physical illness than
for mental illness and substance
abuse.
"We need to talk to our leg
islators on the Senate and
House sides (of Congress) to
support mental health purity,"
Hagler said. He also recom
mends that people contact their
state legislators to support men
tal health insurance parity.
Hagler said many Ameri
cans are experiencing barriers
to mental health care because of
the inequality of insurance cov
erage.
Hagler
"A lot of people think
(insurance) premiums will go
sky-high (if mental health
insurance parity is required by
law)... but studies of states with
menial health parity (now)
show it is affordable," Hagler
said. On average, he said, insur
ance premiums increase about I
percent.
Hagler said lack of parity
"gives insurance companies
tacit permission to discriminate
against people with mental ill
ness."
He said some people can't
get the mental health services
they need or they have maxed
out their lifetime benefit.
Hagler said he hopes that
the trial of Andrea Yates, the
Texas woman sentenced to life
in prison for drowning her chil
dren. and the movie "A Beauti
ful Mind." which won best pic
ture of the year recently, will
get the public to open up and
talk about mental health. "The
window of opportunity ... (is
open for people to start) push
ing for mental health parity," he
said.
However, Steven Pearce -
the director for the Citizens
Commission on Human Rights
of Seattle, a psychiatric watch
dog group founded in 1969 by
the Church of Scientology -
wrote in an opinion column
Feb. 10, 1999, in the Seattle
Times that mental health insur
ance parity is a concept doomed
to failure that would cost the
tax-paying public millions of
dollars. He noted that in 1994
the U.S. Department of Justice
collected $480 million in fines
and penalties for' health-care
fraud, of which 79 percent was
from the psychiatric industry.
He wrote that diagnosis of
mental disorders is "entirely
subjective" because of the lack
of precise boundaries. He wrote
that insurance companies "have
learned lhat (he mental-health
diagnosis will invariably not
only fit the coverage, but that
the length of time it takes to
treat that problem will miracu
lously be exactly the amount of
time the insurance pays for
treatment." That's a major rea
son that insurance companies,
concerned about the bottom
line, have tried to limit mental
health coverage, he wrote.
He wrote that ;jf mental
health-insurance parity is
required by law that insurance
companies will be faced wijh
either raising rates or reducing
medical coverage.
He wrote that, according to
survey data submitted to the
U.S. House Ways and Means
Committee in 1995, the general
public has little or no interest in
increased mental-health cover
age.
Class
fntm pane C3
how to eat right), exercise,
first a unsafe ly. reading com
prehension (including "sur
vival" words), how to read a
newspaper, job skills (how to
look for a job, how to present
oneself), following directions
and many other survival skills.
Sometimes the students do
crafts, such as last Thursday,
when each student made a
God's eye, a colorful Mexican
craft made of sticks and yarn
to represent good luck.
The class goes on field
trips, such as to museums, the
N C. Zoo. Members of the
class also volunteer in the
? community, such as at Salva
tion Army and Crisis Control.
After the 9/11 terrorist attacks
the class made patriotic pins
out of safety pins and red,
white and blue beads (which
they strung by hand), and even
made one for President Bush.
Karen was pleased when
she talked about being able to
live independently in a house
with two other women in the
class. She talked proudly
about being able to do a vari
ety of chores. For example,
she said she can rake the yard,
mop the floor, pack her lunch,
doi her own laundry and iron
hef, clothes for the next day.
(She was wearing a neatly
pressed outfit.) "1 can ride the
(city transit) bus." she said.
She works at a steak restau
rant.
"We goes to church right
across from our home," she
said. "I like to do a lot of Bible
study...," she added.
Karen also competes in
Special Olympics, including
softball and the 50-yard dash.
Linda, one of Karen's
house mates, said, "I always
lock the doors." She and Karen
said they think the living skills
class has helped them to be
able to live on their o#n.
Sheila, another student,
used to live at home with her
family, but she has moved to a
group home. She said she has
made friends there. She is able
to ride the city transit bus and
do some other things to help
take care of herself. "It's fun,"
she said of the life skills class.
Another student. David,
added, "I like to read the news
paper." David lives at home
with his mother and works at
Rose's Department Store.
Patti Russo, assistant
teacher of the class, said
Abdullah doesn't baby the stu
dents, but teaches them sur
vival skills and to be responsi
ble for their own actions.
Students majoring in occu
pational therapy from Win
ston-Salem State University
and volunteers from the com
munity also help with the
class.
Cindy Bell, assistant pro
fessor of the department of
occupational therapy at
WSSU, said three students
from WSSU are spending
three to four hours a week this
semester assisting in the life
skills class as part of their
community field work. (Other
WSSU students do their com
munity field work at other
locations, including the
Enrichment Center and HOPE
Inc., an HIV outreach pro
gram).
Joleen Jarvis. a WSSU stu
dent from St. Thomas. Virgin
Islands, planned the God's eye
project last Thursday. She said
she enjoys working with peo
ple with developmental dis
abilities. "You just learn to
love them," she said. People
with developmental disabili
ties are human beings just like
the rest of us. "They're going
through things just like us."
Jarvis said that after she
graduates from WSSU she
plans to work in the United
States for a few years before
going back to the Virgin
Islands.
Jimmy Jackson, another
WSSU student, said he was a
little uneasy at first about
working with people with
developmental disabilities but
now he likes working with this
population. He said that peo
ple with developmental dis
abilities are "just like regular
people."
And WSSU student April
Shackleford said. "They are
just like me and you."
Roseann M. L'Esperance.
volunteer coordinator for
Group Homes of Forsyth Inc.,
said there are a lot of stereo
types about people with devel
opmental disabilities, such as
they are likely to commit
crimes (fact is. they are more
likely to be victims of crime
rather than perpetrators, she
said) or that they can't control
their anger or they should be
put in state institutions
l?; 1
because they aren't able to live
in the community. But L'Es
perance said that many people
with developmental disabili
ties can learn survival skills.
She said that about 10,000
people in Forsyth and Stokes
counties have some level of
developmental disability. Of
those, about 8,000 "are very
mild and are fairly functional.
They (can) hold jobs in the
community. They may even
marry and live somewhat nor
mal-looking lives."
"That leaves another 2,000
individuals who can live inde
pendently. as we're finding
out. with support or in a group
home setting or... at home and
their families care for them,"
L'Espefance said.
Photo by Paul Collins
Winston-Salem State University occupational therapy students Jimmy Jackson (left) and
Joleen Jar vis (third from left) work with Linda and Dave on a craft project.
Study
from page C.f
factors for leading causes of
sickness and death.
Study subjects were 2,109
women who responded to
questions about sexual assault
in a 1997 CDC-funded Behav
ioral Risk Factor Surveillance
System, an ongoing house
hold survey of people about
their health and health-related
behaviors.
Almost three-quarters of
women reporting sexual
assault either experienced or
were threatened with forced
intercourse, Martin said.
Sexual assault victims
were more than twice as like
ly as other women to perceive
their general health as being
fair or poor, she said. They
also were more than twice as
likely as others to report hav
ing suffered poor physical and
mental health in the previous
month.
"It appears that a history
of sexual assault is predictive
of a lot of other problems in
women, including conditions
that are important risk factors
for cardiovascular disease."
Martin said.
After controlling for eco
nomic and social factors and
health-care coverage, victims
of threatened or actual forced
sexual intercourse were 100
percent more likely to smoke.
50 percent more likely to have
high blood pressure and 70
percent more likely to be
obese or have high choles
terol.
"Future research should
determine whether screening
for and identifying sexual vic
timization among women
leads to effective interven
tions to help them successful
ly cope with these violent
experiences," Martin said.
"We also need to learn more
about the timing of any ill
health effects following
assaults. From this data we
couldn't determine if the
assaults occurred before or
after the other health issues.
Our feeling, however, is that
they occurred before since
younger women are the usual
assault victims, while hyper
tension, obesity and high cho
lesterol tend to occur later in
women's lives."
Because sexual abuse has
been a taboo subject for so
long, only recently have clini
cians and others begun talking
to women about that common
issue, she said.
"We hope studies like ours
will encourage doctors, nurses
and other health-care
providers to discuss this more
often with patients and also
incorporate the issue into their
teaching of students," Martin
said.
A limitation of the study
was that it could not include
women who did not have tele
phones, she said. For that rea
son. the one-in-five figure for
sexual assault probably under
represents the true incidence.
St. Jude
from pane C3
hospital would be open to all at
a time when such ideas weren't
always popular."
St. Jude. one of the first inte
grated hospitals in the Mid
South region of the United
States, treats patients regardless
of their race, place of origin or
ability to pay. The institution's
first research grant was for the
* study of sickle cell disease, a
genetic blood disorder that
strikes one in every 350 African
_ Americans and one in every
- 1,000 Hispanics. One in 12
-. African Americans carries the
"genetic trait that can cause the
"disease.
Sick children have traveled
?from the Caribbean. Africa and
. -Central and South America for
- treatment at St. Jude. The hospi
-tal publishes its findings in med
"jcal journals and freely dissemi
* nates its research breakthroughs
to doctors, clinics and hospitals
around the world so children
who cannot travel to Memphis
can benefit from its work. St.
.Jude physicians also make regu
"Jar visits to 13 countries in
Africa, the Middle East. Asia
and Central and South America
to train and educate local doc
tors and nurses.
ALSAC/St. Jude will part
ner with churches, local civic
organizations, fraternities and
sororities, and other community
groups to spread the word about
the treatment options available
at the hospital. They also will
focus on the need for participa
tion in medical research, with an
emphasis on the hospital's lead
ership role in developing treat
ments and cures for diseases
such as HIV/AIDS, sickle cell
disease and leukemia.
Two staff members will lead
the outreach effort: Deidre Mal
one. vice president of marketing
services for ALSAC/St. Jude.
and Judith Black, director of
public relations for St. Jude.
Malone will direct
ALSAC/St. Jude's efforts to
reach a broader base of potential
donors to the hospital. She will
manage the multicultural mar
keting. corporate marketing,
merchandise marketing, celebri
ty relations and marketing
research and analysis depart
ments for ALSAC/St. Jude. A
member of the St. Jude staff
since 1993. she is the former
public relations director at St.
Jude.
"We want people to know
more about the good work tak
ing place at St. Jude. and espe
cially how different ethnic
groups can benefit and con
tribute to this life-saving work."
Malone said. "St. Jude has had a
long history of service to minor
ity communities. We want peo
ple to know of our ongoing
commitment to groundbreaking
medical research that touches
these groups."
Black will direct the hospi
tal's efforts to reach minority
communities through public and
community relations, events and
a physician referral program.
She joined the St. Jude staff in
July 2001, after serving as direc
tor of public relations and mar
keting for the National Civil
Rights Museum in Memphis.
"St. Jude has helped
? improve the quality of life for
many children, including many
children of color." Black said.
"Most people know of our cut
ting-edge research and break
throughs in pediatric cancer, but
not as many are familiar with
the tremendous strides St. Jude
has made in HIV/AIDS and
sickle cell disease research and
treatment.
"Though this initiative, we
want to increase the number of
patients referred to us with these
diseases. We also want to ensure
that people in these two commu
nities know about our research
efforts and the many children of
African and Hispanic descent
that are in our care."
NOTICE OF PUBLIC
INFORMATION
MEETING
Broad Street Improvement Project
The Winston-Salem Department of Transportation will hold a second public
meeting, as shown below, for the proposed improvements to Broad Street between
6lh and Cotton Streets.
Wednesday, April 10, 2002
4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Forsyth County Central Library
Auditorium
660 W. 5th Street
Winston-Salem, NC 27101
The purpose of the meeting is to allow the Transportation Consultant and City staff
to share their assessment of comments received from the first meeting, show the
recommended design alternative and visual improvements and to receive your
comments. All members of the public are invited to attend and participate.
The meeting will include an open house from 4:00-5:00 pm, with a formal
presentation beginning at 5:00 p.m. Comments and questions will be taken after
the presentation. Both W-S DOT staff and Consultant team members will be
available during the entire meeting to discuss the project.
If you have any questions about the workshop, please contact Stan Polanis,
Winston-Salem DOT, 336-727-2707 or stanp@ci.winston-salem.nc.us. For
those needing special assistance to attend the workshop, please call Angela I.
Carmon, City ADA Coordinator, 336-727-2056 or TDD 336-727-8319.
15)
vlinsioiiSalfiii