William R. Richardson: “I rise in support of the mental health provisions in this conference report. Earlier this year, I offered an amendment…”

“I rise in support of the mental health provisions in this conference report. Earlier this year, I offered an amendment to the health insurance reform bill which would have assured that patients with mental illness could not be discriminated against. It is long past time that this House be given the opportunity to vote on this important issue. Mental illnesses are just as serious of a medical condition as heart disease or cancer, yet insurers have for years not offered complete coverages for the treatment of mental illness. Nearly one out of four of all adults suffer from some type of severe mental illness in the United States each year, yet 95 percent of the major insurance companies in America have limited coverage of psychiatric care. Of the adults in America suffering from mental health problems, less than half are receiving care for their mental illnesses. It is time to eliminate discrimination against mental illness and I applaud this conference report for taking an important first step toward doing that. I would urge my colleagues to support this conference report and the important mental health parity provisions it contains.”