Timothy's Law Passed in New York

Republican George Pataki, in one of his last official acts as Governor of New York, signed into reality a bill called "Timothy's Law," which will require private insurance companies to offer mental health coverage on par with coverage for other health services.

According to the family's web site, www.timothyslaw.org, Timothy's Law was named for Timothy O'Clair, a seriously troubled child who committed suicide after years in psychiatric care and in and out of mental health institutions. In his family's opinion, if not for the limited coverage for mental illness that their insurance policy provided, they would have been able to get Timothy - and other family members - the services that they needed. Instead, the O'Clair's only alternative, when their in- and outpatient visits ran out and they could no longer afford to pay out-of-pocket, was to have Timothy placed in the foster care system. This would allow him to become eligible for New York's Medicaid program, giving Timothy access to the mental health services that his family's private insurance would no longer cover.

Separated from his family unit, Timothy's condition worsened and three weeks shy of his thirteenth birthday, he hanged himself in his bedroom closet.

It took ten years for the O'Clair family to get this bill through a skeptical New York state assembly, because of the potential costs involved: increases in state allocated funds, or increases in private insurance premiums, already prohibitively high for so many individuals and families.

But with a small compromise (the bill originally asked for parity coverage for mental illnesses, substance abuse, chemical dependencies and eating disorders, but the final version eliminated coverage for substance abuse and chemical dependencies), Pataki signed the bill, leaving the final financing yet to be determined.