NAMI News

Managed care fails to make the grade in providing adequate care for persons with mental illness in publicly funded programs, according to a national report card released today by the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI).

The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) will release the results of a survey assessing how well managed care organizations are treating persons with severe mental illnesses.

The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) blasted Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating for his veto of HB 1077, which would have required Oklahoma insurance companies to offer equal overage for mental illness to the same extent as for other physical illnesses.

Suicide rates in older persons are on the rise and, yet, symptoms of depression are rarely recognized and treated in this population, reports the current issue of the Decade of the Brain, a quarterly science-based publication of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI). As many as nine out of ten older persons who have depression do not get treatment for this disorder.

The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) today applauded passage of a Senate amendment designed to ensure that health plans offered to children as part of a new federal program do not discriminate against children with severe mental illnesses.

The National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) today praised Texas Governor George Bush and Texas lawmakers for taking a stand against insurance discrimination. HB 1173, signed into law by the Governor on Friday, requires insurance companies to provide insurance parity, coverage for brain disorders on par with other physical illnesses.

Vermont Governor Howard Dean today took a significant step towards ending insurance discrimination against people with brain disorders.

Earlier this year, PacifiCare, California's second largest health maintenance organization (HMO), removed two antidepressants, Prozac and Zoloft, and one antipsychotic, Risperdal, from its list of covered drugs -- a decision which leaves consumers with few choices in drug therapy. This policy limitation will affect more than 15 percent of the 2 million members who belong to PacifiCare.

One in three individuals with severe mental illness has been turned down for a job for which they were qualified because of a psychiatric label, according to a new study released today at the American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting by the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI).

Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association, will lead a tribute to U.S. Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Mrs. Nancy Domenici hosted by the New Mexico state affiliate of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI).