Wellstone Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Is Finally Law

The one silver lining of the Wall Street bailout legislation that was just passed and signed into law by the President is the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008. It has been a long journey that has finally come to an end.      “This bill is a [...]

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Wellstone Mental Health Legislation-Act Now!

My last post was about the Wellstone mental health legislation and it’s passage in the House. Now it seems to be stalled and is in danger of not becoming law unless the Senate moves it foward. David Wellstone and Wellstone Action sent out this urgent appeal:     Our last hope is in the Senate. [...]

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Wellstone Mental Health Parity Moves Foward

It is about damn time! The House passed the Wellstone parity legislation 376 to 47. A Bluestem Prairie has nice coverage of the story. As Ollie Ox pointed out, the only member of the Minnesota delegation to vote against this important piece of legislation was Rep. Michelle Bachman. Maybe if there was an amendment allowing drilling [...]

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A Final Vote On Wellstone Mental Health Parity Bill?

An email from David Wellstone alerts us to the possibility of a compromise and final vote on H.R. 1424,  the ”Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2008”. From the Wellstone Action website is this description of the bill: The Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act is legislation that would end the [...]

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Act Now-Pass the Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Act

Legislation also known as “mental health parity” is scheduled for a vote on Wednesday, March 5. From the Wellstone Action website is this description:  The Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act is legislation that would end the practice of insurance companies discriminating against people suffering from mental illness.  Sponsored by Representative Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) [...]

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update on PTSD

Thanks to MinnesotaCentral for the link to new information on PTSD. The number of reported cases has increased by 70 per cent. Read the USA Today article here. Peace & solidarity, CHC

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Not your father’s USO

Remember watching Bob Hope on the old ‘tube’ when he did his USO specials? He might be a bit taken aback by some of the performers that have made the trip to Iraq to entertain the troops. Drowning Pool is one such group that might not have been on his favorites list but they made [...]

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Take action-National Parity Day

I received this notice in my in-box today. I wrote on this topic last week and now is the time to take action if you care! ————————— We need your help this Wednesday, May 2. As the bipartisan push for mental health fairness continues in the U.S. House of Representatives, Wellstone Action is joining national [...]

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Violence-Virginia Tech and Baghdad

The past several days have been filled with violence. Notably, Virginia Tech and Baghdad. I have a couple of thoughts about the discussions coming out of the Virginia Tech tragedy. While many people are instantly drawn to the question of our gun culture and our gun laws I think we have an opportunity to seriously [...]

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