AMCS would like to ask for your help in letting members of the California state legislature know how important it is to pass Senate Bill 855 - strong parity legislation that requires health plans to cover mental health services just as they do physical health treatments. People who need mental health treatment shouldn’t be forced to pay for it out of their own pockets - or go without it - because an “independent reviewer” says a treatment isn’t medically necessary. Yet that’s exactly what happens today in California - at the very moment we are facing this “mental health tsunami.”

By requiring insurers to equitably cover mental health and addiction services, SB 855 will increase access to care and help us recover from COVID-19. The bill is now pending before the State Senate and is in danger of being put on hold - in effect killing it for a year.
 
We urge you to call, email, or tweet your State Senator (Senator Ben Allen, if you live in Westchester or Playa del Rey), as well as Senator Anthony Portantino, chair of the Senate Appropriation Committee, and Senate President pro Tempore Toni Akins. You can use our suggested tweets, email, or talking points (click here). If you live in the districts of Sen. Portantino or Atkins, please let them know that.