Kennedy Calls For Healthcare Reform

Insurance companies often treat mental and physical illnesses differently, and those seeking mental health services wait a decade on average before receiving treatment, U.S. Representative Patrick Kennedy said at the Institute of Politics yesterday.

Kennedy, a Rhode Island Democrat, spoke on the need to reform health care systems to better address the need for affordable addiction and mental health treatment.

The event began with an introduction by Minnesota Congressman Jim Ramstad, who talked about finding himself in a Sioux Falls jail in 1981 before finally seeking treatment for his addiction.

According to Ramstad, over 26 million people currently suffer from addictions—only 16 million of whom have health insurance.

But even those with insurance usually can not get coverage for mental health.

Ramstad called mental health provisions the “single most ineffective policy” in the health care system—or, as he called it, a “sick care system.”

Kennedy cited numerous deaths discussed on the news daily, and then asked the audience, “Do you ever see the suicides? Do you ever read about them?”

He also emphasized the many statistics on prevalence of mental health issues, pointing out that some people believe that drugs and alcohol are a lifestyle people have chosen.

“Is this something someone would want to choose for themselves?” he asked the audience.

Often, teenagers who suffer from mental illness are less successful in school, and wind up dropping out and falling into drugs and alcohol, Kennedy said.

Kennedy also told the audience that over 50 percent of foster children wind up in prison.

When asked what advice he would give to people trying to pick themselves up after falling into addiction, Kennedy replied, “Take things one day at a time, slow down...find others and realize you’re not alone in this world.”

Kennedy stressed that there is much more work to be done.

He mentioned his uncle President John F. Kennedy ’40, whom he invoked as a champion for civil rights, before calling on America to stand up for the civil rights of those with mental illness.