Mental Health Breaks

In the past 10 days Congress has passed two pieces of legislation that will significantly improve the millions of Americans with mental health disorders.

On 9/23/08, the House passed the Mental Health Parity Act (HR 6983, introduced by Rep. Kennedy, D-RI), which will require insurance companies to provide coverage for mental health illnesses, that is equitable to the coverage they provide for other physical ailments. Rep. Pelosi noted that the through this bill, "By requiring that illness in the brain be treated just like illness anywhere else in the body for insurance purposes, we are helping to end discrimination against those who seek treatment for mental illness and saving lives." The bill would also provide coverage for substance abuse and addiction.

On 9/29/08, the House passed the Mentally Ill Offender Act (S 2304, introduced by Sen. Domenici, R-NM), which would reauthorize a grant program created in 2004 to improve inmates' mental health treatment, including new trainings for law enforcement officers on how to deal with inmates with mental illnesses. According the to the Department of Justice, 45% of federal inmates have mental health problems. The Senate passed the bill on 9/26/08, and the bill has been cleared for the president.

While this is a much needed policy to better protect the health of all inmates, the mental health issue is much more complex nationwide. Many individuals end up in prison because their mental illnesses have gone undiagnosed or are not properly treated (in part because insurance companies have discriminated against mental illnesses on the whole, as compared to other illnesses). Congress & the president need to continue to think creatively about potential solutions to this pressing problem so as to ensure that individuals with mental health problems, especially those who may be at risk for committing crimes, have access to proper medical care in order to prevent individuals from harming others and/or ending up in our jails and prisons.