[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 146 (Tuesday, November 14, 2000)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11528-S11529]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   DEPRESSION, SUICIDE, AND MEDICARE

  Mr. WELLSTONE. Mr. President, I rise today to call attention to new 
data with respect to older Americans and mental illnesses that support 
swift consideration by the Senate of the Medicare Mental Health 
Modernization Act, S. 3233, a bill that I introduced on October 25, 
2000.
  Throughout my Senate career, I have been concerned about mental 
illness and the unfair discrimination faced by those with this serious 
illness. We now know from Surgeon General David

[[Page S11529]]

Satcher, in his recent report, ``Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon 
General,'' that the rate of major clinical depression and the incidence 
of suicide among senior citizens is alarmingly high. This report cites 
that about one-half of patients relocated to nursing homes from the 
community are at greater risk for depression. Moreover, up to 37% of 
older adults treated in primary care settings experience symptoms of 
depression. At the same time, the Surgeon General emphasizes that 
depression ``is not well-recognized or treated in primary care 
settings,'' and calls attention to the alarming fact that older people 
have the highest rates of suicide in the U.S. population. Contrary to 
what is widely believed, suicide rates actually increase with age, and, 
as the Surgeon General points out, ``depression is a foremost risk 
factor for suicide in older adults.''
  Clearly, Mr. President, our nation must take steps to ensure that 
mental health care is easily and readily available under the Medicare 
program. S. 3233, the Medicare Mental Health Modernization Act, takes 
an important first step in that direction. It is time to take this 
potential fatal illness seriously. I believe we must do everything we 
can to make effective treatments available in a timely manner for older 
adults and others covered by Medicare, and help prevent relapse and 
recurrence once mental illness is diagnosed.
  The mental health community is very aware of the problems in the 
Medicare system and is fighting to improve it. I want to thank those 
groups that have supported this initial effort to improve mental health 
care in the Medicare program, particularly the American Mental Health 
Counselors Association (AMHCA) for their leadership role in fighting 
for improved mental health care coverage for seniors under Medicare. 
Their support joins that of the other major mental health groups 
mentioned in my earlier statement, as well as the Association for the 
Advancement of Psychology, the Clinical Social Work Federation, the 
Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health, the International 
Association of Psychosocial Rehabilitation Services, and the National 
Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare. I want to applaud the 
determination of these groups for stepping forward to fight for the 
rights of those with mental illnesses, and their commitment to 
improving mental health services funded by the Medicare program.

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