The United States has the best health care in the world. That’ s one reason why I have been dedicated to making sure that every American has access to health care. Unfortunately, there is a lot of room for improvement in many areas, for many reasons. This is particularly true in the area of mental health. We have come far in raising awareness of mental health issues, but we have not come far enough. Forty years ago, mental health was simply a non-issue in our public discussions and, for the most part, in our public policies.

Now thanks to the wonderful work of the National Coalition, Deborah Peel, other dedicated mental health advocacy organizations, and all of you here in this room, mental health is becoming a critical issue that is part of an ongoing discussion about quality of life and quality of care issues in America, and around the world.

The next great challenge is removing the barriers to mental health care. There are still even today, some very tall barriers caused by a simple lack of awareness of this issue. I believe, first, most fundamentally, that the entire nation needs to be educated that mental illnesses are just that illnesses, with effective treatments available. I truly believe that when all of us understand that depression, for example, is a disease; that people with depression do not choose to have the symptoms of this disease any more than a person with uncontrolled diabetes chooses high blood glucose; and that depression is controllable, just as diabetes is, people will insist on access to treatment for depression just as they do for diabetes today.

I want to congratulate you on your new Inform America campaign. In addition to knowing that there are effective treatments for mental illnesses, people need to know that often, even if they are insured, they do not have access to real mental health care. But in addition to raising awareness, we should recognize that the federal government has responsibility to ensure access to real mental health care for all Americans. One of the most important barriers is the failure to guarantee privacy for people who could benefit from psychotherapy and other mental health services. The Clinton administration made a good start here, which, in part thanks to the efforts of many in this room, the Bush administration has finally implemented. But we must be vigilant, as the administration has left the door open to revising, and rolling back this critical rule.

And we must acknowledge that privacy of medical information, including psychotherapeutic information, is a fundamental part of the care itself. As the Supreme Court affirmed in Jaffee v. Redmond, without privacy guarantees, effective psychotherapy is simply not possible. Before the privacy rule was implemented, we heard a lot of arguments against it. We heard that it would be expensive or inconvenient to safeguard the privacy of Americans’ medical records. But I say that privacy is so fundamental to ensuring access to medical care, indeed, to a free society, that it is well worth some inconvenience or expense to guarantee it to our citizens.

Of course, even if people believe that their medical information will be kept private, access to care is too often limited by their insurance coverage. Unfortunately, insurance coverage can create barriers to mental health care. Especially in managed care plans, access to mental health care is often subject to both direct and indirect limits making it virtually impossible for people to receive the kind of quality care they need and deserve.

The Senate is currently considering the Bipartisan Patient Protection Act of 2001. I am working with my colleagues in the House to ensure that we also have the opportunity to vote on this important bill. I am proud that it provides protections for those with mental as well as physical illnesses. It requires a point-of-service option, direct access to specialty care for chronic conditions, continuity of care, access to clinical trials, age-appropriate care for children, and provides legal remedies for those with mental as well as physical injury.

The fact is that all insurance plans that choose to cover mental health care should provide benefits on a par with physical health care. This is a common-sense requirement based on the knowledge that mental illnesses are exactly that: illnesses. And everyone must have insurance. There is no magic bullet for covering all Americans. There are 42 million people in this country with no health insurance: men, women, children, working families, early retirees. We must pass a number of bills to cover people in different circumstances.

Two days ago Andrea Yates, who had five children, killed them all. This is a wrenching, horrific event and no one can fairly say whether it could have been prevented. But too often, people with mental illnesses don’t get the treatment they need and end up committing violence against others. This is avoidable in some cases and we need to do everything we can as a society to avoid it.

I have listed a number of barriers to getting access to mental health care. It will take effort by everyone and it will take time to sweep away these barriers. But we can do it, and we must do it. Mental health care can improve and even transform people’s lives. We can reduce suffering, increase productivity and strengthen families. But we must ensure access. You have taken huge steps towards reaching this goal, and I look forward to working with you to reach it once and for all."

Contact: Erik Smith/Kori Bernards   (202) 225-0100

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