Be a mental health advocate
NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, is the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness.
NAMI advocates with elected officials to ensure: people get help early, people get the best possible care, and people get diverted from justice system involvement.
But, we can’t do this without you. Your voice makes a difference.
Take Action on Statewide Advocacy Campaigns
Fail-first protocols are a form of prior authorization in which an insurance company requires a patient to demonstrate unsuccessful treatment or “fail first” on certain medications before they receive coverage for the medication their physician recommends. This stops patients from accessing adequate treatment for their conditions in a timely manner.
HB382/SB111 will prohibit the Maryland Medical Assistance Program and certain insurers, nonprofit health service plans, health maintenance organizations, and managed care organizations from using fail-first protocols.
We are certain that prohibiting fail first protocols won’t be a financial burden to the state. In fact, we are so certain of this fact that we’ve included bill language that states if prohibiting fail first protocols makes our Medicaid costs exceed $2,000,000 in any fiscal year, the bill is considered null and void.
Please, use your voice to take action and urge your legislators to support HB382/SB111 and help individuals in need in Maryland today.
Take Action on National Advocacy Campaigns
#Act4MentalHealth and send an email, share a story, or post on social media to urge your elected officials to support mental health on a national level. Read more to find what federal actions you can take to support mental health.
From health care to the economy to criminal justice and more, mental health touches many of the issues that you might care about the most. Whenever you cast your ballot, you #Vote4MentalHealth, whether you realize it or not.
- 24/7 crisis call centers (“someone to talk to”)
- Mobile crisis teams (“someone to respond”)
- Crisis stabilization options (“a safe place to go”)
