[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 16]
[Senate]
[Page 21395]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      NATIONAL MENTAL HEALTH WEEK

  Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I take this opportunity to note the 
importance of the week of October 3-9, 2004, which is National Mental 
Health Week. This annual event was created in the hopes that Americans 
would recognize and honor the challenge encountered by the mentally ill 
and their loved ones. This year, the theme of the National Mental 
Health Week is ``unity through disparities''.
  Mental illnesses affect 22.1 percent of Americans over the age of 18. 
According to a National Institute of Mental Health 2001 survey, 
approximately 44.3 million Americans suffer from some form of mental 
illness. Conditions such as depression, bipolar disorder, 
schizophrenia, and obsessive compulsive disorder, together are ranked 
fourth of the ten leading causes of disabilities in the United States. 
Such statistics clearly indicate that we cannot afford to ignore the 
needs of those living with a mental illness.
  The impact of mental illnesses on the productivity of the United 
States is greatly underestimated. The Global Burden of Disease study, 
published by the National Institute of Mental Health, exposed that 
mental illness, including suicide, accounts for 15 percent of the 
burden of disease in established market economies. This study reveals 
that mental illness places a larger burden on the productivity of the 
United States than all cancers combined. Such findings reemphasize that 
more attention and resources need to be directed towards supporting the 
mentally ill.
  Today millions of Americans living with some form of mental illness 
continue to be discriminated against on a daily basis by their 
insurance companies. Congress passed mental health parity legislation 
that went into effect January 1, 1998 to try and address this problem. 
This legislation was intended to require insurance companies that 
choose to provide coverage for mental health to offer the same lifetime 
cap as they do for physical illness. This legislation was meant to be a 
monumental first step in preventing discrimination against individuals 
with mental illness.
  Since enactment of this legislation, insurance companies have not 
expanded their coverage, but instead have maintained just enough 
coverage to remain within the legal limits of the law. Today I call on 
my fellow Senators to support the Senator Paul Wellstone Mental Health 
Equitable Treatment Act of 2003, S. 486. Under this bill, full coverage 
equality with respect to health insurance coverage will be provided to 
those who are mentally ill. It is my hope that in the closing weeks 
before the close of the 108th Congress, that we can come together in a 
bipartisan manner and support S. 486, not only for those who suffer 
from mental illness and their families, but also to pay tribute to our 
colleague, the late Senator Paul Wellstone, who continuously fought for 
such parity during his service in the Senate.

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