The Bailout legislation that passed the Senate last week had one good surprise for the country and its citizens,  it had attached to it the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008. http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/10/03/parity_finalpassage/?refid=0

This legislation precludes insurance companies from discriminating against mental health patients and drug addicts in providing coverage for treatment.  Some insurance companies don't want to cover people who are sick, they just want to make a profit.  While I am glad that the legislation finally passed Congress, I also think that it is a shame that it took Congress twelve years and a major economic crisis before it passed such a meritorious piece of legislation. 

The legislation may affect up to sixteen million people. It is time that people with mental illness be able to come out of the closet and that society not exploit them because of their condition. Sadly mental illness still carries a lot of stigma and many companies and individuals within the larger society have a negative attitude towards people who acknowledge suffering it. The number  sixteen million shows that mental illness is more common and widespread than we would like to admit. Mental illness is another type of illness and people suffering from it should not have to be treated differently from people suffering from other disease or medical conditions.