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"Jakes Law"!
"Jake's Law" is a multi-faceted approach to combatting suicide and substance use through insurance transparency, increased youth access to mental healthcare, and informing future public policy with new sources of data.

"Jake’s Law" is the result of extensive stakeholder input from insurers, suicide prevention and mental health advocacy organizations, providers, hospitals, and concerned citizens.

Founders of the JEM Foundation, Denise and Ben Denslow lost their 15 year old son, Jake to suicide on January 11, 2016. They, along with everyone at the JEM Foundation (honoring their sons name, Jacob Edward Machovsky ) are on a mission to ensure that no other family feels the pain associated with suicide and that no one has to battle any form of mental illness alone and without proper treatment. 
Senator Brophy-McGee sponsored SB 1523: Mental Health Omnibus aka "Jakes Law" and Representative Wenninger sponsored HB2764. Both bills have been assigned to the Health and Human Services Committee and the Appropriations Committee in both the House and Senate.

NOW IS THE TIME TO EMAIL/CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVES AND ASK THEM FOR THEIR SUPPORT OF BOTH SB1523 AND HB2764!



What Is "Jakes Law?"
  • Requires insurance cards issued in Arizona to clearly identify which governmental agency to contact for questions or to file complaints. 
  • Requires insurers to file a comparative analysis report with the Department of Insurance every three years or whenever there is a substantive change in a health plan, demonstrating their compliance with federal parity laws. 
  • Requires the Department of Insurance to establish a consumer-friendly webpage containing resources pertaining to mental health parity, a step-by-step guide on how to file parity violation complaints, and a summary regarding insurers’ compliance with mental health parity laws. 
  • Prohibits an insurer from denying a claim for mental health or substance use benefits based solely on the grounds that the service was provided in an educational setting or was court-ordered. 
  • Establishes a Mental Health Parity Advisory Committee to provide the Director of the Department of Insurance advice on case management, discharge planning, and expedited review and appeals processes for cases involving suicidal ideation. 
  • Establishes and appropriates $100,000 for a Suicide Mortality Review Team within the Department of Health Services. 
  • Expands access to behavioral health services in schools by establishing a fund to help students covered by private insurance but who are unable to afford their copay or deductible. 
  • Requires and appropriates $300,000 to the Department of Education to conduct a study to determine the adequacy of behavioral health services offered in schools. 
  • Requires the Department of Health Services (DHS) to establish rules for discharge protocols for patients admitted for suicidal ideation or a suicide attempt, including information on crisis services, referrals, insurance appeals processes, and suicide risk assessments. 
House Health and Human Services
John Allen - jallen@azleg.gov
Nancy Barto - nbarto@azleg.gov
Kelli Butler - kbutler@azleg.gov
Gail Griffin - ggriffin@azleg.gov
Alma Hernandez - ahernandez@azleg.gov
Jay Lawrence - jlawrence@azleg.gov
Becky Nutt - bnutt@azleg.gov
Pamela Powers Hannley - ppowershannley@azleg.gov
Amish Shah - ashah@azleg.gov

House Appropriations
Regina E. Cobb - rcobb@azleg.gov
Diego Espinoza - despinoza@azleg.gov
Charlene R. Fernandez - cfernandez@azleg.gov
John Fillmore - jfillmore@azleg.gov
Randall Friese - rfriese@azleg.gov
John Kavanagh - jkavanagh@azleg.gov
Anthony T. Kern - akern@azleg.gov
Aaron Lieberman - alieberman@azleg.gov
Bret Roberts - broberts@azleg.gov
Ben Toma - btoma@azleg.gov
Michelle Udall - mudall@azleg.gov
Senate Health and Human Services Committee
Sylvia Allen - sallen@azleg.gov
Heather Carter - hcarter@azleg.gov
Rick Gray - rgray@azleg.gov
Tony Navarrete - tnavarrete@azleg.gov
Tyler Pace - tpace@azleg.gov
Rebecca Rios - rrios@azleg.gov
Victoria Steele - vsteele@azleg.gov



Senate Appropriations Committee
Lisa Alston - lalston@azleg.gov
Sean Bowie - sbowie@azleg.gov
Heather Carter - hcarter@azleg.gov
David Gowan - dgowan@azleg.gov
Sine Kerr - skerr@azleg.gov
Vince Leach - vleach@azleg.gov
David Livingston - dlivingston@azleg.gov
Lisa Otondo - lotondo@azleg.gov
Michelle Ugenti-Rita - mugenti-rita@azleg.gov
Contact MHA AZ

MHA AZ Board of Directors

Josh Mozell, JD, Board Chair
Chuck Goldstein, MD, Vice Chair
Jason Bernstein, CPA, Treasurer
Matthew Moody, MC, Secretary
Karen Pitico, LCSW, MPH
Marcus Johnson, MPH
Laurie Goldstein
Chuck Montgomery
Amanda Stamps
Adwoa John
Laura Dix, MS
Gregory Robins
Beth Brady, LAC

MHA AZ Staff

Erin Callinan, MSW, Associate Director