Mental Health Awareness

Floor Speech

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. KELLY of Illinois. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to talk about something critical to each and every person in the House and the millions of Americans whom we represent: our health.

It is no secret that the Affordable Care Act was an important start toward increasing access to care and addressing long-lingering health disparities that plague our communities. Thanks to the ACA, millions of Americans have access to quality, affordable healthcare, many for the first time. The impacts have been positive across the country, but especially in the African American community, where the uninsured rate has been cut in half.

Mr. Speaker, this is remarkable progress, but we still have a long way to go. Globally, the U.S. ranks 24th in healthcare. Let me say that again. We, the United States, the richest country in the history of the world, ranks 24th when it comes to healthcare. Nations like Slovenia, Antigua, and Barbuda outrank us. Mr. Speaker, that is outrageous. We can and must do better.

One area we desperately need to do better in is mental health. One in five Americans--that is more than 40 million of us--suffer from a mental health condition. Thankfully, the Affordable Care Act mandated, for the first time, that mental health services be included in coverage.

But stigma and a persistent lack of access to care continue to prevent many from seeking and receiving treatment. It is estimated that more than half of those struggling with a mental health condition cannot, or do not, receive the care that they need.

This Mental Health Awareness Month, I want to challenge my colleagues to join efforts to end stigma and bring these issues out into the open: join a rally, send a tweet on available services in your district, or host a roundtable with veterans who are struggling.

Do something, anything, to help deconstruct the stigma.

If every Member of this House did something, that is more than 440 moments to help tear down this stigma that keeps too many struggling without care.

This month, May, is also Lupus Awareness Month. Despite affecting more than 1.5 million Americans, lupus is poorly understood and often overlooked even by medical professionals.

It is estimated that a patient with lupus will go 6 years before they finally receive an accurate diagnosis.

More than 90 percent of those living with lupus are women, and a disproportionate number are people of color. In fact, African Americans, Latinos, Asians, and Native Americans are as much as three times more likely to be diagnosed with lupus than White Americans.

I hope that this House will mark May and Lupus Awareness Month by recommitting research, improved awareness, and increased access to care to support the 1.5 million Americans living with lupus.

This month, I also want to draw attention to the fact that more than 75 million of us suffer from high blood pressure.

Tragically, more than half--or 38 million--of us do not have this condition under control, leading to worsening complications, including heart disease and stroke, two of the leading causes of death in this country.

High blood pressure is often called the silent killer, and I know that nearly every one of us in this House has a story of losing a friend or loved one to stroke or a heart attack.

Again, as with nearly every disease, African Americans are disproportionately impacted. In fact, more than 40 percent of African American women and men have high blood pressure.

Our community often tends to develop this disorder earlier and experience it more severely than our White counterparts.

So this month I challenge everyone to ``embrace the squeeze'' and get your blood pressure checked. Knowing is half the battle, and it can save your life.

We have a chance for Congress to tackle these issues head-on.

Next week, my dear friend, mentor, and colleague, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, will introduce the Health Equity and Accountability Act, also known as the HEAA bill.

This bill, that I have personally had the honor of introducing last Congress, takes a comprehensive look at where we need to address Americans' health disparities crisis.

I hope that all Members will take a careful look at this important bill and join us as cosponsors.

While many of these health disparities have existed for years, they don't need to persist. We can address them, we can solve problems, so let's get to it.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Source