Patrick Kennedy: “this week is Mental Health Awareness Week and still the mental health parity legislation supported by 249…”

“this week is Mental Health Awareness Week and still the mental health parity legislation supported by 249 representatives, 70 Senators and 369 national organizations is bottled up. The leadership of this House, which refuses to bring up this popular legislation for a vote, is sentencing millions of Americans to joblessness and underemployment. Mental illnesses are treatable and individuals with mental illnesses are frequently able to hold down good jobs as productive members of society, but only if they are treated. As the Chicago Tribune reported several years ago, employees who are depressed are twice as likely to take time off for health reasons as employees who are not depressed and are seven times more likely to be less productive on the job. President Bush's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health found a shocking 90 percent unemployment rate among individuals with serious mental illnesses, while also finding that most of them could work with just modest supports. The American Dream is not just for those lucky enough to live free of disease and disability. During this mental health awareness week, I call on this House to finally at long last pass mental health parity.”