Pardon a break from the candidate diaries...
The House has passed the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act!
I'd urge everyone to click on the link to learn more about the act and continue to read the Wellstone Action site to find out what else needs to be done to make sure this becomes law.
This has been sitting in the House for years, neglected by the former Majority. The Democratic congress may not be perfect, but I think we can all agree that they've done good here, and millions of Americans will benefit.
Most of us know someone with a mental illness so I really shouldn't have to go into why this is important. Note that this bill seems to gain support from any Republican who's been touched by mental illness in some way. It's key that they included addiction in this act, as the stigma attached to substance misusers exceeds that of any other disease group.
It has passed the Senate multiple times, and in 2002 Bush signaled he would support this legislation. While it's certainly not a done deal(there seem to be significant differences between the House/Senate versions), we can remain hopeful that it could be signed into law this year.
Nyceve and others do an excellent job chronicling the failures of our system and what we can do to fix it. It's important that we recognize the strides we make toward the goal of universal coverage.
We all miss Paul Wellstone and his incredible voice, it gives me hope that his family and others continue to carry out his work.
Edit: NYTimes gives a rundown.