Kennedy Honored for Tireless Advocacy on Behalf of People With Mental Illness
Patrick Kennedy notes that the 2008 Wall Street bailout played a major role in the passage of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act.
While it has been years since the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) of 2008 became law, the fight for equal access to mental health care for millions of Americans has just begun, according to former Rep. Patrick Kennedy, who was presented with APA’s Patient Advocacy Award last month during the annual meeting in Toronto.
Patrick Kennedy tells annual meeting attendees that the fight for parity mental health services must maintain momentum under a reformed health care system.
David Hathcox
Kennedy—who is outspoken about his personal experience of living with bipolar disorder and recovery from substance use disorder—received the award for his work as one of the nation’s leading advocates for individuals living with mental illness and substance use disorders.
Kennedy was the author and lead sponsor of the MHPAEA, a law that provides access to mental health care for tens of millions of Americans at the same coverage levels as other kinds of medical care.
In the lecture he presented after receiving the award, Kennedy spoke candidly about how the passage of MHPAEA was achieved.
“From 2001 to 2008 there was very little support of the bill,” Kennedy explained. Movement finally came, however, when the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008—known as the Wall Street bailout—was dumped into HR 1424, which housed MHPAEA. Kennedy credited former Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, who was then chair of the Senate Banking Committee, with this action.
“The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act did not come to pass because of rallying on the Capitol. It passed due to legislative maneuvering and without anyone knowing it,” Kennedy said. Though Kennedy described the bill’s passage as a “major accomplishment,” it only marked the beginning of the fight to ensure the needs of those living with mental illness were heard.
“We, as advocates and mental health professionals, have to make sure that the new system of health care has mental health services as a routine part of health care,” stressed Kennedy, “and will provide reimbursements based on valuing mental health care and treatment for addiction,” particularly for early intervention and screening. “We must demand that mental conditions are ultimately treated the same as other medical conditions, such as cancer, heart disease, and diabetes.”
Kennedy also called for improvements to be made to the criminal justice and community health systems, since all too often individuals with mental illness land in the criminal justice system by default.
Kennedy closed by saying that addressing problems related to the delivery and reimbursement of mental health care will benefit not only patients with mental illness and substance abuse disorders, but the country as a whole.
“I am really honored and very appreciative of being recognized by an organization that is continually fighting to advance better practices and treatments in mental health care for people like myself,” Kennedy told Psychiatric News.
Kennedy is currently working on One Mind, which is a national coalition seeking to develop new treatments and cures for brain illness and injury and reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness, and One Mind for Research, which is dedicated to achieving dramatic enhancements in research funding and collaboration for all brain disorders in the next decade. ■
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Published online: 12 June 2015
Published in print: June 6, 2015 – June 19, 2015
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