On August 3rd I attended a rally outside the capital building that was aimed at urging Governor Cuomo to sign a bill that reforms Step Therapy in New York. For those unfamiliar with this policy, step therapy, also know as "fail first", allows insurance companies to deny coverage of certain medications that may be more costly, but more effective, than other similar generic treatments, until a patient proves that the generic treatment is unsuitable. This obviously is unsuitable for many mental illnesses given that two drugs treating the same disorder may do so in very different ways. In addition, finding the right brand, dosage, and/or combination of medication for mental illnesses may take years, and the current policy of fail first only extends this period. NAMI NYS was a strong supporter of the reform, along with other advocacy groups rallying for lupus, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, and cancer. Later that same evening Congressman Paul Tonko spoke at a town hall meeting in Colonie to discuss federal mental health policy. The Congressman discussed the advances made by the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act of 2015 Bill that recently passed in the House and is awaiting a vote in the Senate. The Bill aims to remedy the lack of beds in psychiatric facilities, expand pediatric mental health series and coverage, and overall reform the federal mental health care system. In addition, the Congressman brought up many interesting points about how this bill has been tied to gun reform legislation, with many people attempting to make the two a package deal (while others using mental health care reform as a scapegoat for gun reform, in my opinion). It was a very insightful talk, and I hope to see more progress like this at the national level!
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School is almost back in session, and I am very eager to get back to having actual meetings for NAMI@Emma! Before I return to blogging about the club's activities again, I thought I would share the steps I've been taking this summer to expand the club and further educate myself. Firstly, on June 8th Wendy Burch, the Executive Director of NAMI NYS, and I met with the head of the Rensselaer school district to discuss the development of a NAMI high school club. It was wonderful to be met with such enthusiasm, and as it stands the tentative plan was to have me speak at the Rensselaer Youth Leadership Summit in October in order to recruit club leaders in different school districts. I am very excited about this prospect! Secondly, from June 14th-17th I attended the ANNPower Leadership Forum, run through ANN Inc. and Vital Voices. This was such a wonderful experience for me, especially meeting 50 other girls from across the country who were so passionate about their own projects to benefit their community. I was able to develop a more solid plan for expanding the club, create an elevator pitch, and learn about the Vital Voices Leadership Model, which places a lot of emphasis on creating community-based solutions to pressing issues. In addition we heard from many wonderful speakers such as the CEO of Girls Who Code, Michelle Obama's stylist, and the EIC of Marie Claire. In July I attended a course at Notre Dame called Science, Ethics, and Responsibility. While a majority of the course focused on the ethics of emerging technologies, we spent a day studying Disability Studies, a field in which I saw many connections to the work NAMI@Emma is doing. I plan on perhaps tying in some of this field to a few discussions this year. Additionally we took a trip to the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and met with two Medical Ethicists. I was very interested in how they dealt with mentally ill patients who refused to consent to treatment, and might use this and the debate surrounding court mandated treatment as a topic for discussions during club meetings. |
Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of, but stigma and bias shame us all. -Bill Clinton
Katherine WallaceEmma Willard Class of 2017. Archives
May 2017
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