[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 38 (Thursday, March 6, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E324-E325]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     PAUL WELLSTONE MENTAL HEALTH AND ADDICTION EQUITY ACT OF 2007

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, March 5, 2008

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, I am delighted that yesterday Congress was 
able to pass the long overdue Paul Wellstone Mental Health and 
Addiction Equity Act, finally vowing to end the discrepancy of health 
care and treatment available to patients with mental illness and 
addiction disorders. I commend Mr. Kennedy and Mr. Ramstad for their 
steadfast and courageous efforts to bring this bill, and even more so, 
this issue, to the forefront of this Congress. This bill seeks to 
establish parity in coverage between mental health care and other forms 
of health care, ensuring greater access to treatment.

[[Page E325]]

  There are countless stories of Americans, including my own 
constituents in Ohio's 9th District, who are struggling not only with 
their mental illness, but with the costs of trying to treat it. Our 
local jails are jammed with inmates who present with serious mental 
illness as our sheriffs become innkeepers for the untreated mentally 
ill. Mental illness affects the majority of homeless in our Nation. 
Treating those who suffer from these cruel illnesses is long overdue. 
Following are accounts that show a striking difference among my 
constituents (whose names have been changed for privacy reasons) who 
have the necessary health coverage to help mange their illness, with 
those who do not.
  Carol is a young woman not yet 30 years old, who had managed to hide 
her paranoid schizophrenia for several years with treatment until a 
recent breakdown exposed it in a very public way. She'd lost her job--
and thus her health insurance--and was struggling. She had no way to 
afford COBRA payments, and without health insurance, had to stop 
treatment. The voices in her head told her to eat bananas and drink 
beer, and then to drive. After following these instructions, she was 
picked up by the local police for driving under the influence. It was 
then that her parents became aware of her true condition. Because she 
had no health insurance, they could not find a place which would admit 
her for proper treatment. Her court case for the DUI was placed on 
suspension because, in her state of psychotic crisis, she could not 
participate in her own defense. Her parents finally found a counselor 
through the community mental health system, but her medical bills 
continue to mount.
  Mary's situation is similarly devastating. A single mother raising 
four children, Mary works in a job which does not offer health 
insurance. Although she has purchased a private policy, it is very 
limited and has additional restrictions on mental health care. Mary's 
teenage son began to experience severe mental health problems and was 
diagnosed with schizophrenia. She found care in a private facility, but 
reached her insurance limit quickly. Now without the ability to pay for 
his care, she has found it very difficult to successfully continue his 
treatment. He has since encountered legal difficulty, and has been 
placed in a juvenile justice center.
  With comprehensive health coverage, Bob's situation is much more 
fortunate, and a model for how things should be. Bob is a professional 
with a well-paying job and a young family. However, a crisis sent him 
into a downward spiral ending in depression. His full insurance 
coverage afforded him the ability to ``shop around'' as they struggled 
to find him proper treatment. Bob eventually sought help through a 
private inpatient treatment facility. Following his stay, he and his 
family have continued the intensive therapy he was prescribed, which 
has enabled him to return to a life of productivity and has restored a 
sense of normalcy in his family.
  The Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act will go a 
long way in ensuring that there are more success stories like Bob's, 
and fewer situations like that of Carol and Mary. And, by breaking down 
the barriers to treatment, this bill will also help erase the 
unfortunate stigma that prevents those in need of mental health and 
addiction treatment from seeking the care they need.
  The Wellstone bill moves America forward and brings hope to millions 
who know the scourge of mental illness.

                          ____________________