Last Thursday former United States Congressman Patrick Kennedy presided over a Field Hearing at the Denver Art Museum to evaluate local, state, and federal efforts to equalize private insurance benefits for mental health and substance abuse disorders with those available for other conditions (known as ‘parity’). The event was hosted by the Colorado Coalition for Parity, an organization that includes the WellPower as well as many of our community partners.”

Jeannie Ritter, Former First Lady of Colorado and current Mental Health Ambassador at the WellPower, introduced Kennedy, highlighting his knowledge of and dedication to the issue of parity for mental health and substance abuse disorder treatment. Kennedy, along with his late father Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, worked to pass the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equality act in 2008. In his opening remarks, Kennedy referred to the fight for parity for mental health and substance abuse disorder treatment as “a personal journey as well as a political cause.”

In addition to Kennedy’s testimony, the event also included the testimonies of people who spoke about their experiences on the front lines of the battle for parity for mental health treatment.

Reflecting on last night’s event and more generally upon the fight for parity for mental health and substance abuse disorders, Mental Health Ambassador Jeannie Ritter highlighted a major difference in the way insurance companies and healthcare providers approach mental health and substance abuse treatment. “Physical health issues including several types of cancer have age-connected onset times that are known to the medical community, which is exactly why men over 40 are screened for prostate cancer and why women around the same age go in for mammograms.” However, with mental health and substance abuse disorders, the former First Lady points out, “screening is not a priority for mental health issues–even when age-connected onsets are likewise known.”

Mrs. Ritter also commented on the timeliness of the fight for parity, suggesting that the recent shift towards recovery-based treatment for mental illnesses and substance abuse disorders coupled with the passing of the Affordable Care Act presents an opportunity for progress. “Leadership wants to show that {they} are doing something, but we must resist the temptation to revert to the days of old when people {with mental illnesses and substance abuse disorders} were removed from the community for treatment. The time for equal access to healthcare for people struggling with mental illness and substance abuse disorders is now.”

For more information about the event, read Denver Post reporter Michael Booth’s story “Patrick Kennedy calls for mental health insurance reforms in Colorado” online here.

More information about Jeannie Ritter and her role as Mental Health Ambassador at the WellPower is available on our website here.

Photo Credit: CBS