What the Experts Say

Vermont governor Howard Dean, MD:

"Treating mental health problems early is less expensive, more effective, and more humane than waiting until people with serious mental illness end up in a hospital or jail cell."

Senator Paul David Wellstone (D-MN):

"Too often, a cloak of secrecy has surrounded the problem, causing people who have these diseases to feel ashamed and afraid to seek treatment for their symptoms for fear that they will be seen as admitting to a moral failure or weakness in character. 

A Report of the Surgeon General:

"Case studies of five states that had a parity law for at least a year revealed a small effect on premiums - at most a change of a few percent plus or minus."

"... evidence on the effects of parity shows that their costs are minimal."

Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House:

"Illness of the brain must be treated just like illness anywhere else in the body."