Transcripts For CSPAN2 U.S. Senate Sen. Roy Blunt R-MO On Coronavirus Mental Health 20240713

Economy and everybody involved but that flattening it was pretty great but on the other side of that equation the impact m was significant and has been ready and waiting and those scenarios did not occur and to have plenty of hospital beds and ventilators but the crisis because of flattening the curve has lasted longer and will last longer than it would have otherwise im not saying thats a bad thing that to send people home from wor work, practice social distancing putting people on the unemployment rolls Serious Problems for people and to have challenges for the mental wellbeing. The impact is the adults in the United States say that coronavirus has impacted their Mental Health and this is on top of the statistic where we traditionally believe the National Institute of health and other places one out of four or one out of five have a diagnosable always treatable Behavioral Health problem that the Mental Health is impacted by that social e distancing that with the isolation can create depression and those that would have a prior mentor Health Problem diagnosis the addiction what the issues is a bigger problem than they were six months ago. People that dont have access to the support system. And with the state governments and opioid addiction. Job and family and health so maybe i could just do that one more time and then i dont get addicted again it turns out it doesnt work that way. And those with unprecedented challenges as a perfect storm so the Substance Abuse and Mental Health services and t0 percent through this time last year and calling that distressed hotline. But practitioners and Behavioral Health issues see the impact every day certainly warning this is its own second wave of impact even if he had theto vaccine for then he might not be able to figure out how to get out of it. And we could lose more lies to the pandemic and the new study from the wellbeing trust estimates 75000 more people will die from suicide and Substance Abuse because of the pandemic we are already seeing evidence thats the place the springfield news leader said my home county the first place i was elected as a county official has already received a 25 percent uptick of suicide and Overdose Deaths in the last couple of months. Mr. President meas Mental Health Awareness Month and it is appropriate to talk about ruthe ways coronavirus has widened the gap in the medical system between access to physical Health Issues and Mental Health this is the month and the time to realize you cannot separate those issues and to realize they are of equal concern to be treated equally. As i mentioned before one out of four americans have a diagnosable Mental Health issue but less than half seek any help for the care that they need of those grow to one and two and where it was before all this started we see a coming together factors we have to deal with we have to take steps on how to address it and realize and continue to work toward the normalization congress did provide 425 million for Substance Abuse and Mental Health services the Certified Community health clinics. And with the Emergency Response to address substance and Mental Health disorders the federal resources are nscritical to most of that important work is done at the local level. The congress unanimously agreed in the cares act and then to add to states talking to cms about moving forward with those next two states those sad originally applied that was First Authorized in 2014 was some legislation and from what we sponsored at the time with a Certified Community Behavioral Health clinics to care for patients regardless of where they live with the seven day a week access 24 hours a day theory to be part of that program. And care coordination and healthcare providers. Other Health Issues and then you have to save a lot of money. And has you deal with those other issues if you doing what you should be doing and feeling better about yourself taking a medicine and eating better and the other costs go down in this will turn out to be a moneysaving do thing to do to be invested. And then to have a 62 percent reduction of hospitalization and emergency room visits. Tat one statistic may have offset whatever investment we have made in the Mental Health program. People not going to Emergency Rooms less likely to come in contact with those who have covid19 or another virus. We need to make sure we are using telehealth c whether a itMental Health provider or another critically important people who are struggling with Mental Health or addiction are particularly challenged right now we need to let themet know they are not forgotten no matter how alone they feel they are not alone in congress is paying attention to this. And to associate myself with senator blunt i certainly couldnt improve upon it but i completely agree. Thank you. The purpose coming to the floor is to demonstrate my support for Surgeon General he is up for a promotion and has been nominated to become the