[1] The law was named after Timothy, a boy from Schenectady, NY who died by suicide at age 12 on March 16, 2001.
As a result, the O'Clairs were forced to relinquish full custody of their child in order to make him eligible for Medicaid which paid for all the services which Timothy needed.
[2] In 2003, 2 years after Timothy's death, Timothy's parents joined other mental health advocates and lent Timothy's name to the parity movement in the state of New York and petitioned the state government to pass a law that would require health plans to provide coverage for mental health ailments and behavioral disorders that were comparable to coverage for physical ailments.
[3] In May, 2009, the Superintendent of the New York State Insurance Department released the actuarial study on the cost effectiveness of Timothy's Law, and reported that the law had considerably increased mental health parity at a nominal cost to employers.
It stated that neither consumers nor brokers viewed the mandates as a significant issue relative to cost or their overall purchasing decision.