Too many people remain ignored due to an inadequate health care system that doesn't treat mental illness seriously, President George W. Bush told audience members at the UNM Continuing Education Building Monday.
While stopping briefly through Albuquerque on a fund-raising trip for U.S. Rep. Heather Wilson (R-NM), Bush allotted time to highlight Sen. Pete Domenici's (R-NM) struggle to introduce legislation that would put mental illness on par with physical illnesses.
The speech, sponsored by the UNM Health Sciences Department, was a pep rally that allowed Bush to back the New Mexico Republican Congress members.
Bush announced the formation of the President's New Freedom Commission on Mental Health to develop recommendations for the nation's mental health system.
A press release stated that the commission will "work to better coordinate the 13 federal agencies that now oversee mental health policies, funding, laws and programs."
He also outlined three major obstacles mental health care must overcome: a stigma of misunderstanding mental illness that leads to fear and embarrassment, the mental health care system's fragmentation and mental illness treatment limitations in many major insurance plans.
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"Mental disability is not a scandal," Bush said. "It is an illness and, like physical illness, it's treatable. Especially when treatment comes early."
Bush said the stigma leads to isolation and discourages people from seeking treatment, despite the success rates of depression and schizophrenia as compared to other physical illnesses such as heart disease.
Bush added that because many people fall through the system's cracks, they end up homeless, develop drug addictions and enter the prison system.
"We look forward to making progress in fixing the system so Americans do not fall through the cracks," Bush said.
He added that insurance plans often place greater emphasis on physical illness, and as a result some people are unable to receive efficient medical treatment for mental illness.
"We must treat mental illness like any other disease," Bush said.
He stressed that millions of Americans are impaired at work, school or at home by episodes of mental illness.
The President lauded Domenici's achievements on improving mental health, providing background on his own efforts.
Bush added that when he was governor of Texas, he signed a bill that assured patients mental health parity.
Mental health parity is a condition in which companies providing mental health benefits to workers can not make the annual or lifetime dollar ceilings on those benefits any more restrictive than their ceilings on medical or surgical benefits.
A parity bill was introduced last fall, but it failed to pass Congress.
"It's critical to provide full mental health parity," Bush said.
He promised to work with the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives to create a bill for mental health parity this year.
Domenici said he asked Bush to join him in the battle against the problems surrounding mental illness because he wants to "see the day when their suffering and economic ruin will finally come to an end."
He added that with Bush's help, the stigma weighing down mental health could dissipate.
