Patrick J. Kennedy: “I don't want this hearing to end up becoming this false dichotomy that it is one or the other.”

What we're trying to do is make the spirit of parity a practical reality.

We wouldn't expect any less if there were any other illness. And yet we settled for less than 20 percent of Americans getting any of that today in this country.

If this were any other issue we would move heaven and Earth to deal with it. In COVID we responded right away, everybody inoculation, everybody out there. The longest impact of COVID is going to be mental health, and yet, we don't treat it.

I want to thank the Biden Administration. They’ve put teeth into the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act.