Jim Ramstad: “with 54 million Americans suffering the ravages of mental illness and 26 million suffering from chemical addiction, the…”

“with 54 million Americans suffering the ravages of mental illness and 26 million suffering from chemical addiction, the failure of this Congress to pass the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act is a slap in the face to millions of Americans with mental illness and/or drug and alcohol addiction. It's also the biggest failure of this session of Congress. Congress' failure to knock down the discriminatory barriers to treatment is a matter of life or death for people suffering from mental health and addiction diseases, diseases that took the lives of over 200,000 Americans last year alone. Just 2 weeks ago, my friend of over 25 years took his own life as a result of depression. He joined 34,000 other Americans who have committed suicide from depression this year. In my home State of Minnesota, Anna Westin was a young woman with anorexia. She suffered for several years from this terrible disease. Her parents' insurance company refused to cover the inpatient treatment that she desperately needed. Distraught at her condition and being a financial burden on her parents, young Anna took her own life.”