Copyright 1999 The Washington Post
The Washington
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June 08, 1999, Tuesday, Final Edition
SECTION: A SECTION; Pg. A02
LENGTH: 680 words
HEADLINE: At
Forum on Mental Illness, Calls For Compassion and Coverage
BYLINE: Amy Goldstein, Washington Post Staff Writer
BODY:
It was part teach-in, part
testimonial and part political rally as Tipper Gore assembled her husband,
President Clinton and more than 500 advocates yesterday to contemplate her
favorite issue: How to improve treatment and understanding of the mentally ill.
The daylong conference, the first major forum on mental health convened
by the White House, was designed to expose persistent myths and prejudices that
surround Americans with psychiatric disorders--and that prevent them from
receiving the same insurance coverage available for other ailments.
"This is the last great stigma of the 20th century," Gore told the
hundreds of consumers, lobbyists, researchers and politicians invited to the
conference. "We need to make sure it ends here and now." To illustrate the
effects of those stigmas and the helpfulness of treatment, the president, the
vice president and their wives shared a stage at Howard University with five
Americans ranging from the famous to the obscure, who recounted their first-hand
experiences with mental illness.
Television journalist Mike Wallace
described his plunge into clinical depression decades ago while he was in the
midst of a long libel trial. A Virginia college student told of being so
anorexic that she used to allow herself only 20 calories a day. And a native of
Hong Kong who was diagnosed with schizophrenia as a teenager in California said
he eventually found medication that has enabled him to hold jobs helping other
Asian immigrants.
In addition to "putting a face on mental illness very
personally," as Tipper Gore said, such testimonials also made another point the
White House has been striving to convey. "These are real diseases of a real
organ--the brain--and should be treated just like any other medical illnesses,"
said Steven E. Hyman, director of the National Institute of Mental Health.
Yesterday's conference--chaired by Tipper Gore--was the most visible
platform the administration has given the topic. The event also bore political
overtones, as Vice President Gore moves to define the issues of his candidacy
for next year's presidential election.
For its main session, the
conference employed the folksiness and precise choreography that Clinton
perfected in his own campaigns--and that Gore has tried to adopt. The president,
vice president and their wives sat on stage in small groupings of upholstered
chairs separated by coffee tables. And they chatted with a panel that included
mental health experts, along with those invited to share their personal stories.
"I know there are some business executives . . . who are still kind of
manning the barricades and fighting against opening up treatment for the
mentally ill," Vice President Gore said to Wayne Burton, medical director for
Bank One Corp. of Chicago.
Burton said his bank had discovered that
paying for mental health treatment is cost-effective--an argument that the
administration has been advancing for years, but that the insurance industry and
business groups oppose.
"It is high time our health plans treat all
Americans equally," Clinton told the audience.
In essence, the president
and several members of his Cabinet yesterday acknowledged that the federal
government's last attempt to require better coverage for psychiatric treatment
has proved only marginally successful. Under health reform legislation adopted
by Congress three years ago, health plans may not set lifetime
caps on mental health coverage any lower than those for other
treatment. But they still may restrict the number of doctors' visits for such
services and can charge more for them.
Clinton reiterated several
announcements about mental health policy that the White House has made over the
last few days, including a $ 10 million experiment to give 1,000 mentally ill
Americans who qualify for disability payments coverage for prescription drugs
and therapy for which the federal government ordinarily does not pay.
TV
journalist Mike Wallace described his bout with depression at a White House
conference chaired by Tipper Gore.
GRAPHIC:
PH,,GERALD MARTINEAU
LOAD-DATE: June 08, 1999
