[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 96 (Thursday, May 21, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2574-S2576]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                              Coronavirus

  Mr. BLUNT. Mr. President, we have seen things in the pandemic crisis 
that nobody in living memory has dealt with. In so many ways we are 
writing the book and trying to read the book at the same time, trying 
to figure out how we get to where we need to be.

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  Clearly there has been an incredible strain on the American economy 
and an incredible strain on the American healthcare system and 
everybody involved with that.
  Public health experts told us we had to flatten the curve, and the 
economic cost of flattening the curve was pretty great. On the other 
side of that equation, the impact on hospitals was significant in that 
many of them have been ready and waiting for whatever they needed to 
do, and because we flattened the curve, the worst-case scenarios didn't 
occur, and in most cases they were prevented, and we had plenty of 
hospital beds. Before it was over, we had ventilators and all those 
things we will have later.
  But the crisis, because of flattening the curve, has certainly lasted 
longer and will last longer than it would have otherwise. I am not 
saying that is a bad thing; I am just saying measures like closing 
businesses and sending people home from work, practicing social 
distancing, putting people on the unemployment rolls have really 
created serious problems for people who have cause to have challenges 
to their mental well-being.
  I think the impact is that nearly half the adults in the United 
States say that the coronavirus has impacted their mental health. This 
is on top of the statistic we traditionally believe from the National 
Institutes of Health and other places that one out of four or one out 
of five adult Americans has a diagnosable--and I wouldn't hesitate to 
add an almost always treatable behavioral health problem--mental health 
problem. But coming through the coronavirus, again, one half of all 
adults say that their mental health has been impacted by that, whether 
that was social distancing or everybody trying to do everything that 
you normally do at other places than home. Maybe it was economic 
uncertainty, which, along with the isolation, can certainly create 
depression and anxiety.
  It is, in almost all cases, likely to be worse for people who had a 
prior mental health problem or a prior mental health diagnosis, but 
those aren't the only people who have been affected.
  Addiction issues have become a bigger problem, again, than they were 
6 months ago. People who don't have access to their support system, 
people who were moving with great focus on the part of the Federal 
Government and many State governments away from opioid addiction are in 
a situation where they are isolated; they are depressed; they are 
concerned about job or family or health and beginning to think: What 
was that one thing that really made me feel good? Well, maybe I can 
just do that one more time and have that great feeling, and I wouldn't 
get addicted again
  It turns out that addiction doesn't work that way. So we see people 
with unprecedented challenges as this almost perfect storm impacting 
mental health hits us.
  Last month, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 
Administration reported nearly a 900-percent--a 900-percent--increase 
in the number of calls to its Disaster Distress Hotline over this time 
last year. Nine times as many people are calling that distress 
helpline, that Disaster Distress Hotline, than were calling a year ago.
  Practitioners in behavioral health issues see the impact every day. 
They are certainly warning that this could produce its own second wave 
of impact that lasts well beyond the time we have treatment for 
coronavirus because people, even if they have had the vaccine, even if 
they have stopped worrying about the coronavirus, have found themselves 
in a place with their mental health issues that they don't want to be 
but might not be able to figure out how to get out of.
  If we don't respond quickly and we don't respond forcefully, we could 
certainly lose more lives to this pandemic. One new study from the Well 
Being Trust estimates that 75,000 more people will die from things like 
suicide and substance abuse because of the pandemic. We are already 
seeing evidence that that may be a place where we are moving.
  My hometown newspaper, the Springfield News-Leader, reported this 
week that Greene County, my home county, the first place I was elected 
as a county official, has already seen a 25-percent uptick in suicide 
and overdose deaths in the last couple of months.
  May is Mental Health Awareness Month. I think it is appropriate for 
us to talk about the ways that coronavirus has widened the gap in the 
medical system between access to physical health issues and access to 
mental health issues.
  This is the month and the time we need to realize that you can't 
separate those issues. We need to realize that those issues are of 
equal concern and need to be treated equally.
  As I mentioned before, the estimate generally is somewhere in the 
neighborhood that one in four Americans has a diagnosable mental health 
issue, but the other estimate is that less than half of them seek any 
help or the care they need.
  As that number has grown now to one in two saying that they have 
concerns about their mental health or that their mental health is not 
where it was before this all started, we see a coming together of 
factors here that we have to figure out how to deal with. We need to 
take steps on how to address it. We need to realize that more needs to 
be done. We need to continue to work toward the normalization of 
treating all health the same.
  In the CARES Act, the Congress did provide $425 million for substance 
abuse and mental health services. That includes more than half of 
that--$250 million--to certified community behavioral health clinics; 
$50 million for suicide prevention; and $100 million for emergency 
response grants to address substance and mental health disorders.
  Federal resources are critical, but most of the response and most of 
the important work will be done at the local level, so the Congress 
also unanimously agreed, in the CARES Act, to extend the excellence in 
mental health and addictive treatment demonstration program through 
November 30.
  We added two States. I talked to CMS this morning about moving 
forward in adding those next 2 States to the 19 States that originally 
applied.
  This program was first authorized in 2014 in some legislation that 
Senator Stabenow from Michigan and I had sponsored at the time that 
created the whole concept of certified community behavioral health 
clinics that care for patients regardless of where they live or their 
ability to pay--24-hour, 7-day-a-week access. It was necessary, if you 
were going to be part of that program, that you could get preventative 
screenings, you would have care coordination with your other healthcare 
providers.
  By the way, if you have a behavioral health issue, it clearly has 
impact on what other health issues you might have. If you are dealing 
with that behavioral health issue in the right way, you are going to 
save a lot of money and a lot of caregiver time in most cases as you 
deal with your other issues if you are doing what you should be doing. 
If you are feeling better about yourself, if you are taking your 
medicine, eating better, sleeping better, showing up for appointments, 
your other health costs are going to go down. So not only is this the 
right thing to do, but it also, in my view, will turn out to be a 
money-saving thing to do, to invest money where it needs to be 
invested.
  In eight States that have the certified centers under the Excellence 
in Mental Health Act, those patients have reported a 62-percent 
reduction in both hospitalization and emergency room visits. Probably 
that one statistic, on its own, may have offset whatever investment we 
have made in this mental health program. People not going to emergency 
rooms, obviously, means you are less likely to come in contact with 
people who have COVID-19 or some other virus.
  We need to be sure we are using telehealth to connect you with your 
healthcare provider, whether that is a mental health provider or 
another provider. That is critically important.
  People who are struggling with mental health or addiction are 
particularly challenged right now. We need to let them know they are 
not forgotten, and no matter how alone they feel, they are not alone, 
and the Congress is paying attention to this, but we need to pay 
attention to the people on the frontlines who are assuring that the 
right things are done in the right way at the right time.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota.

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