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Federal Document Clearing House
Congressional Testimony
May 18, 2000, Thursday
SECTION: CAPITOL HILL HEARING TESTIMONY
LENGTH: 1214 words
HEADLINE:
TESTIMONY May 18, 2000 EDWARD M. KENNEDY SENATOR SENATE HEALTH,
EDUCATION, LABOR & PENSIONS MENTAL HEALTH PARITY
BODY:
May 1.8, 2000 STATEMENT OF SENATOR EDWARD M.
KENNEDY AT THE HELP COMMITTEE HEARING ON MENTAL HEALTH PARITY
Thank you, Mr. Chairman for requesting this GAO Mental Health
Parity Report and for calling this hearing to examine the issue.
President Kennedy's 1963 State of the Union message included-the following
statement: "I believe that the abandomnent of the mentally ill and the mentally
retarded to the grim mercy of custodial institutions too often inflicts on them
a needless cruelty which this nation should not endure". That was nearly forty
years ago, and advances in science since then have enabled us to make great
progress in the treatment of mental illness. But too often
today, patients with mental illness are denied the state-of-the
art treatment that would be available if their illnesses were physical instead
of mental. This unacceptable discrimination is not only wrong,
it is costly. The total cost of mental illness to the nation in
terms of treatment and lost productivity is about $150 billion a year according
to the Surgeon General's Report. We pay those costs in the coin of human misery,
higher overall medical costs, lost productivity, an overburdened and inadequate
system of social services, and prisons and jails overflowing with people who
suffer from mental illness. I wanted, to take a minute to
concentrate on how large those costs are and how large the problem is. The
Surgeon General's Report indicates that one in five Americans will experience
some form of mental illness this year. Mental
illnesses are our second leading cause of disability. Yet success rates for
treating mental illnesses are high-- as high as 80%. More
effective drugs with limited side-effects have become available in recent years.
We called the 1990's the "Decade of the Brain" and the discoveries of that
decade have certainly opened a window on the brain and mind. As we learn more
about the science of mental illness, more and better cures are
likely to emerge. Unfortunately, the majority of people suffering from
mental illness go untreated. Many do not seek treatment due to
the fear and stigma of mental illness. Many of the millions of
Americans suffering from mental illness do not receive
treatment, because their treatment will not be covered by insurance or because
the co-payments are too high. It is difficult to convince people to seek
treatment, if their insurance plans do not cover the treatment. We know that
many of the elderly go without prescription drugs, because they cannot afford
them. Many other Americans suffering from mental illness do not
seek treatment for the same reason. We passed the Mental Health
Parity Act of 1996 in an effort to end this cruel and unacceptable
discrimination. Many of us had sought a much stronger bill, which would
guarantee full insurance parity for those with
mental illness. The Senate took a middle road, hoping that
employers and insurance companies would provide such parity. We
were wrong. Unfortunately, as we will see today, the promise of real
parity for mental health has been an empty
one, and the benefits to consumers have been grossly inadequate. There is a
glimmer of hope, however. Some states, including Massachusetts earlier this
month, have passed laws which have eliminated the loopholes and mandated full
parity of coverage for mental health. This
means that treatment for mental illness is covered to the same
extent as any other medical or surgical treatment- or procedure. It doesn't cost
a great deal to provide full parity-and it eliminates enormous
costs in human suffering. We know who these people are who are not receiving
treatment today. They are our fellow citizens in communities across the country
who have been neglected far too long. It is long past time to provide genuine
parity in our health care system for those
suffering from mental illness. Today's hearing is a significant
step in the right direction, and I look forward to the testimony of out
witnesses. I also wish to extend a special welcome to Dr. Duckworth, our
Massachusetts witness, who has elected to spend his birthday with us.
LOAD-DATE: May 26, 2000, Friday
