March 21, 2001
FAMILY OPPORTUNITY ACT REVIVED
Bill Gains Momentum in Renewed Push for Passage
Background
The Family Opportunity Act of 2001 (also known as the “Dylan Lee James Act”)
is alive again in both the House and Senate. Among its provisions, this bill (H.R. 600 and S. 321) would allow states to offer middle-income families of
children with disabilities the option of buying into Medicaid. Under current law, many of these children are not eligible for Medicaid coverage because
their families make too much money. As a result, they are often uninsured or underinsured - either because health insurance is not available through an
employer, or it is too expensive, or benefits are too limited. Many other families struggle to keep their incomes at poverty levels in order to
maintain Medicaid coverage, and others have been forced to relinquish custody to the State so that their children can qualify for Medicaid. The
provisions of this bill would build on progress under the Work Incentive Improvement Act of 1999, which extends health care coverage to adults with
disabilities who work or want to return to work, by allowing individuals who earn up to 450% of the Federal Poverty Level to buy into Medicaid on a
sliding scale basis.
Once again, Senators Grassley (R-IA) and Kennedy (D-MA) and Representatives Sessions (R-TX) and Waxman (D-CA) are the lead sponsors of the Senate and
House bills respectively. Last year, despite overwhelming support among members for this legislation, opposition from the Senate leadership,
particularly Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) and Majority Whip Senator Nichols (R-OK), blocked its passage. Working in our favor, Senator Grassley
now chairs the Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over this bill in the Senate.
What would the bill do?
1. Expand Medicaid Coverage Options. States could offer Medicaid coverage to children under age 18 who have severe
disabilities (that is, they would be eligible for SSI disability benefits except for family income or resources)
and are in families earning up to 300% of the Federal Poverty Level, which is $51,150 for a family of four. Such coverage would give children access to
the full range of Medicaid services, including those provided through the Early Periodic Screening Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) program. Parents
electing this coverage would make monthly payments on a sliding scale basis, but their cost could not exceed 5 % of the family’s income.
2. Psychiatric Services for Children. States would be permitted to include within a home and community-based service Medicaid waiver program children
under age 21 who have disabilities which would otherwise require psychiatric hospitalization.
3. Demonstration Program: Children’s Coverage: Subject to a $100 million payment cap, states could extend Medicaid coverage through 2007 to children
under 21 years of age who have “potentially severe disabilities” (such as a mental condition which, without treatment, would become severe enough to
qualify for SSI).
4. Other provisions would (a) fund “Family to Family Health Information Centers” to assist families in making informed treatment choices for
children with special needs, and (b) ensure that disabled children would qualify for Medicaid coverage on the first day they are presumed eligible
for SSI instead of having to wait a month after SSI eligibility was established.
Action Needed
Please make sure that your member of Congress and Senators are sponsors of this bill. All MHAs are encouraged to contact their Representatives and
Senators to urge them to sponsor this bill, if they are not already sponsors. Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be
connected to the appropriate office. If you have a personal story of how
this would help your child or other constituents, be sure to share it with your Member’s office. The current House and Senate sponsors (and the date on
which they became co-sponsors) are listed on succeeding pages. Because the House version is under the jurisdiction of the House Committee on Energy and
Commerce, and with sufficient bipartisan support in that Committee could be taken up soon, please focus efforts particularly on urging members of that
Committee to co-sponsor, and vote for the Family Opportunity Act when the Committee takes it up. The Committee Members (in order of seniority by
party) are:
W. J. “Billy” Tauzin, LA Chairman
Michael Bilirakis, FL
Joe Barton, TX
Fred Upton, MI
Cliff Stearns, FL
Paul E. Gillmor, OH
James C. Greenwood, PA
Christopher Cox, CA
Nathan Deal, GA
Steve Largent, OK
Richard Burr, NC Vice Chairman
Ed Whitfield, KY
Greg Ganske, IA
Charlie Norwood, GA
Barbara Cubin, WY
John Shimkus, II
Heather Wilson, NM
John B. Shadegg, AZ
Charles "Chip" Pickering, MS
Vito Fossella, NY
Roy Blunt, MO
Thomas Davis, VA
Ed Bryant, TN
Robert Ehrlich, MD
Steve Buyer, IN
George Radanovich, CA
Joseph Pitts, PA
Mary Bono, CA
Greg Walden, OR
Lee Terry, NE
Charles F. Bass, NH
John D. Dingell, MI, Ranking Member
Henry A. Waxman, CA
Edward J. Markey, MA
Ralph M. Hall, TX
Rick Boucher, VA
Edolphus Towns, NY
Frank Pallone Jr., NJ
Sherrod Brown, OH
Bart Gordon, TN
Peter Deutsch, FL
Bobby L. Rush, IL
Anna G. Eshoo, CA
Bart Stupak, MI
Eliot L. Engel, NY
Tom Sawyer, OH
Albert R. Wynn, MD
Gene Green, TX
Karen McCarthy, MO
Ted Strickland, OH
Diana DeGette, CO
Tom Barrett, WI
Bill Luther, MN
Lois Capps, CA
Mike Doyle, PA
Chris John, LA
Jane Harman, CA
Currently the House version of the Family Opportunity Act (H.R. 600) has 121
sponsors and the Senate version (S. 321) has 63 sponsors.
121 SPONSORS OF H.R. 600
Rep Abercrombie, Neil; Rep Ackerman, Gary L; Rep Aderholt, Robert B.; Rep Allen, Thomas
H.; Rep Baca, Joe; Rep Baldacci, John Elias; Rep Baldwin, Tammy; Rep Barrett, Thomas M.;
Rep Becerra, Xavier; Rep Berkley, Shelley; Rep Berman, Howard L.; Rep Bilirakis, Michael; Rep Bonior, David E.; Rep
Boucher, Rick; Rep Brady, Kevin; Rep Brown, Sherrod; Rep Camp, Dave; Rep Capito, Shelley Moore; Rep Capps, Lois; Rep Clement, Bob; Rep Cramer, Robert
E. (Bud) Jr.; Rep Deal, Nathan; Rep DeFazio, Peter A.; Rep DeGette, Diana; Rep Deutsch, Peter; Rep Diaz-Balart, Lincoln; Rep Dingell, John D.; Rep
Doggett, Lloyd; Rep Doyle, Michael F.; Rep Dreier, David; Rep Dunn, Jennifer; Rep Emerson, Jo Ann; Rep Engel, Eliot L.; Rep Eshoo, Anna G.; Rep
Evans, Lane; Rep Filner, Bob; Rep Fletcher, Ernest L.; Rep Frank, Barney; Rep Frost, Martin; Rep Gallegly, Elton ; Rep Gilchrest, Wayne; Rep Gilman,
Benjamin A.; Rep Green, Gene; Rep Hall, Tony P.; Rep Hayworth, J. D.; Rep
Hinchey, Maurice D.; Rep Hooley, Darlene; Rep Isakson, Johnny; Rep
Jefferson, William J.; Rep Johnson, Nancy L.; Rep Jones, Stephanie Tubbs; Rep Jones, Walter B., Jr.; Rep Kaptur, Marcy; Rep Kennedy, Patrick J.; Rep
Kind, Ron; Rep King, Peter T.; Rep Kucinich, Dennis J.; Rep LaHood, Ray; Rep
Leach, James A.; Rep Lee, Barbara; Rep Lowey, Nita M.; Rep Markey, Edward J.; Rep Matsui, Robert T.; Rep McCarthy, Carolyn; Rep McGovern, James P.;
Rep McHugh, John M.; Rep McNulty, Michael R.; Rep Miller, George; Rep Mink, Patsy T.; Rep Moakley, John Joseph; Rep Mollohan, Alan B.; Rep Moore,
Dennis; Rep Moran, James P.; Rep Moran, Jerry; Rep Murtha, John P.; Rep Myrick, Sue; Rep Nadler, Jerrold; Rep Nethercutt, George R., Jr.; Rep
Norwood, Charlie; Rep Nussle, Jim; Rep Oberstar, James L.; Rep Oxley, Michael G.; Rep Pallone, Frank, Jr.; Rep Paul, Ron; Rep Payne, Donald M.;
Rep Pickering, Charles (Chip); Rep Platts, Todd Russell; Rep Portman, Rob; Rep Price, David E.; Rep Pryce, Deborah; Rep Ramstad, Jim; Rep Reynolds,
Thomas M.; Rep Rivers, Lynn N.; Rep Roukema, Marge; Rep Rush, Bobby L.; Rep Ryun, Jim; Rep Sanders, Bernard; Rep Schaffer, Bob; Rep
Schakowsky, Janice D.; Rep Scott, Robert C.; Rep Shadegg, John B.; Rep Shays, Christopher; Rep
Shimkus, John; Rep Snyder, Vic; Rep Solis, Hilda L.; Rep Stark, Fortney Pete; Rep Strickland, Ted; Rep Stupak, Bart; Rep Sweeney, John E.; Rep
Tauzin, W. J. (Billy); Rep Towns, Edolphus; Rep Udall, Tom; Rep Upton, Fred; Rep Watt, Melvin L.; Rep Waxman, Henry A.; Rep Weldon, Curt; Rep Weldon,
Dave; Rep Weller, Jerry; Rep Whitfield, Ed; Rep Wilson, Heather; Rep Wynn, Albert Russell
Note: The Senate Mark-up will probably occur this summer.
63 SPONSORS OF S. 321
Sen. Akaka, Daniel K.; Sen. Baucus, Max; Sen. Bayh, Evan; Sen. Biden Jr., Joseph R.; Sen. Bingaman, Jeff; Sen. Boxer, Barbara; Sen. Breaux, John B.;
Sen. Byrd, Robert C.; Sen. Cantwell, Maria; Sen. Chafee, Lincoln D.; Sen.
Cleland, Max; Sen. Clinton, Hillary Rodham; Sen. Collins, Susan M.; Sen. Conrad, Kent; Sen. Corzine, Jon; Sen. Crapo, Michael D.; Sen.
Daschle, Thomas A.; Sen. Dayton, Mark; Sen. DeWine, Michael; Sen. Dodd, Christopher
J.; Sen. Domenici, Pete V. ; Sen. Dorgan, Byron L.; Sen. Durbin, Richard J.; Sen. Edwards, John; Sen. Enzi, Michael B.; Sen. Feinstein, Dianne; Sen.
Frist, Bill; Sen. Graham, Bob; Sen. Harkin, Tom; Sen. Helms, Jesse; Sen.
Hollings, Ernest F.; Sen. Hutchinson, Y. Tim; Sen. Inouye, Daniel K.; Sen.
Jeffords, James M.; Sen. Johnson, Tim; Sen. Kennedy, Edward M.; Sen. Kerry, John F.; Sen. Kohl, Herb; Sen. Landrieu, Mary L.; Sen. Leahy, Patrick J.;
Sen. Levin, Carl; Sen. Lieberman, Joseph I.; Sen. Lincoln, Blanche; Sen. Lugar, Richard G.; Sen. Mikulski, Barbara A.; Sen. Miller,
Zell; Sen. Murray, Patty; Sen. Nelson, Bill; Sen. Reed, Jack; Sen. Reid, Harry M.; Sen.
Roberts, Pat; Sen. Rockefeller IV, John D.; Sen. Santorum, Rick; Sen.
Sarbanes, Paul S.; Sen. Schumer, Charles E.; Sen. Smith, Gordon; Sen. Snowe, Olympia J.; Sen. Stabenow, Debbie; Sen. Thomas, Craig; Sen.
Thurmond, Strom; Sen. Torricelli, Robert G.; Sen. Warner, John W.; Sen. Wellstone, Paul D.
For further information, please contact Frances Andrew, NMHA assistant director of Legislative Affairs
by email at mailto:fandrew@nmha.org or
call (703) 838-7530
For more information about the National Mental Health Association and its many programs and activities, visit
our web site at http://www.nmha.org.