COLUMBUS Hope Taft stopped advocacy for mental health bill

The House approved the bill against the wishes of Gov. Bob Taft.
COLUMBUS (AP) -- First lady Hope Taft, who long supported a bill requiring insurance companies to offer mental health treatment, stopped pushing for the bill after the governor asked lawmakers for a moratorium on such legislation.
Hope Taft sent at least two letters to lawmakers over the past three years asking them to support the bill, and also sent several handwritten notes of support to the bill's longtime advocate, Rep. Lynn Olman, a suburban Toledo Republican.
The House approved the bill 52-40 Wednesday against the wishes of Gov. Bob Taft, who is concerned it could hurt small businesses already struggling with rising health care costs.
Supportive
Hope Taft was especially supportive of the original bill's requirement that drug and alcohol addictions be included in the coverage. But she didn't limit her support to that issue, according to the letters.
"It is time that Ohio joins the growing trend of states passing laws to provide mental health and chemical dependency health benefits," Mrs. Taft wrote in a Dec. 4, 2002, letter to then House Insurance Chairman Dennis Stapleton.
"If left untreated, these diseases of the brain can have a bigger impact on a company's bottom line than diseases typically covered by insurance," the letter said. "Left untreated, they also have a tremendous negative impact on the state's budget."
Wednesday's bill removed the alcohol and drug coverage at the request of several lawmakers. Olman said he doubted the legislation would have received a vote with such coverage included.
No longer supportive
The first lady stopped advocating for the bill after her husband asked lawmakers in December for a moratorium on bills mandating additional health insurance coverage.
The governor, a Republican, repeated his request in last month's State of the State speech.
Both Tafts agree with the bill's goals, Taft spokesman Orest Holubec said Thursday. "It's not like one person believes it's well-intentioned and the other person believes it's not a good thing to do."
Mrs. Taft supported the bill more strongly when it included alcohol treatment, a top issue for her, Holubec said.
Olman announced the first lady's support Wednesday before the House vote.
"I was hesitant to say anything about it, but it's a fact, she supports it," Olman said Thursday.
"I'm sure in some small part it's causing some embarrassment to her and her husband, but as far as I'm concerned this is war, a war being fought in the legislative trenches," said Olman, who's pushed for such a bill since 1995.
"The truth is she has long been a supporter of eliminating discrimination against diseases of the brain."