Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) Discusses Veterans' Mental Health Needs on MTV and MySpace Presidential Dialogue

Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease

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Ask questions about his health plans potential impact on coverage for mental health, addictions treatment services.

On Monday, November 19, at 1:30 pm ET, Gov. Richardson will participate in a live webcast to discuss his vision for health reform and the uninsured. Participants will have the opportunity to submit comments to each candidate prior to the webcast. You must submit your question before Monday in order for it to be considered.

Gov. Richardson's health care plan can be found at: www.richardsonforpresident.com/issues/healthcare. Gov. Richardson's health care proposal includes coverage for all Americans, using both public and private means. According to his plan, Gov. Richardson would "Promote better mental health care by supporting the formation of integrated primary care teams that include primary care and mental health providers. This coordinated approach to physical and mental health has been shown to reduce health care costs and avoidable hospitalizations. Richardson would also ensure that all health plans provide full parity between mental health and physical health benefits."

The National Council encourages members to submit questions to find out more about the Governors plans for addressing the needs of people with mental illness and addictive disorders.

Sample questions you may wish to ask Gov. Richardson:

Sample Question 1:

Traditionally, private insurance hasnt covered the kinds of services people with mental illness and addictions need. You have said that you will ensure that all health plans provide full parity between mental health and physical health benefit. Your health plan does not mention prevention or treatment for substance use disorders. What would you do, as President, to get a strong parity bill through Congress that includes both mental illnesses and addictive disorders?

Sample Question 2:

New research indicates that people with serious mental illness - which include schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major clinical depression die, on average, 25 years earlier than the general population.  Sixty percent of premature deaths in persons with schizophrenia are due to medical conditions such as cardiovascular, pulmonary and infectious disease. Does your plan have a care coordination or care management aspect to ensure people who have both a mental illness and/or an addiction as well as a chronic physical health condition will receive the care they need?

Sample Question 3:

The World Health Organization recently stated that serious mental illness was the number 1 disabling conditionabove cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other physical health conditions. What have you done as Governor in New Mexico to address this crisis, and what will you do as President to ensure that mental health is a top priority in health care reform?

To submit a question for Gov. Richardson, go to: www.health08.org/presidentialforums/question.cfm  

Questions will be presented to the panel of journalists moderating the event for consideration. Please share any questions you submit with the National Council. E-mail any questions you submit to Tammy Seltzer at TammyS@thenationalcouncil.org.  

The Health Care 2008: Presidential Candidate Forums will be moderated by a panel of leading health journalists from The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer, ABC News, National Public Radio, and The Wall Street Journal. The series of Forums are being organized by Families USA and the Federation of American Hospitals, produced by MacNeil-Lehrer Productions and hosted by the Kaiser Family Foundation in its Barbara Jordan Conference Center. The Foundations health news and information site, http://presidentialforums.health08.org/, will provide a live webcast of each forum. Shortly after the live webcast, an archived webcast, transcript and podcast will be available.

Future Health Care 2008: Presidential Candidate Forums include:

Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT)  TBA

Former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR)  TBA

Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX)  TBA

Former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA) TBA

Past Health Care 2008: Presidential Candidate Forums are available online. These archived forums include:

Senator John McCain (R-AZ) October 31, 2007

Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)  October 25, 2007

Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE)  October 25, 2007

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY)  October 18, 2007

Former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC)  September 24, 2007

See the live archived forums at http://presidentialforums.health08.org/  

On October 29, Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) participated in the second of MTV and MySpaces series of Presidential Dialogues at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, IA. The unscripted forums, broadcast live from college campuses on both the MTV and MySpace websites, allows questions from students in the room as well as from MySpace users via Instant Messenger and MTV.com readers via e-mail.

Obama responded to questions on a variety of topics, ranging from the kind of Supreme Court Justices he might appoint to who he would choose to play himself in a movie about his life.

In response to a question on his plan for Iraq and the direction he sees the military going in the next five to 10 years, Obama voiced his concerns about the effects multiple long tours in Iraq and Afghanistan are having on servicemen and women and the difficulty many face in getting mental health services. This is part of the reason veterans end up being seven times more likely to be homeless than non-veterans, Obama said. Because nobody is giving them support that they need when they get home. As president, Obama said he would build funding to ensure veterans have access to the mental health services they need into his budget. He also advocated for an active military force large enough to avoid overworking and overstraining troops.

To watch the archived forum online, go to:

www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1572958&vid=185110  

The series first webcast, featuring Former Senator John Edwards (D-NC), is also available online.

The next MTV/MySpace Presidential Dialogue will feature Senator John McCain (R-AZ) on December 3 at 7:00 pm ET. For more information on this upcoming session, go to:

www.myspace.com/election2008  

Other future MTV/MySpace Presidential Dialogues include:

Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE)  TBA

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY)  TBA

Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-CT)  TBA

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R-NY) - TBA

The National Council belongs to the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease (PFCD), a coalition of more than 80 patients, providers, community organizations, business and labor groups, and health policy experts who have joined together to raise awareness of the policies and practices that save lives and reduce health costs through more effective prevention and management of chronic disease. PFCD is looking for people willing to join speakers bureaus in targeted states: Iowa, New Hampshire, Ohio and South Carolina and people who are willing to travel to speak in those states. National Council members in New Hampshire and Iowa recently volunteered to work with the PFCD speakers bureau, and we look forward to reporting on their activities.

If you are interested in participating on the state level with PFCD, please contact Tammy Seltzer, Director of State Policy, at 301-984-6200, ext. 234, or TammyS@thenationalcouncil.org. As speakers or hosts are needed in other states, we will let you know.

The National Council would like to hear what youve been doing to educate the presidential candidates or the voters about your work and the issues you care about. Please contact Tammy Seltzer, Director of State Policy, at 301-984-6200, ext. 234 or TammyS@thenationalcouncil.org. If you've held an event, please send us photos with your written description.

National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare
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