And finally, I would like to see some national guidelines established for treatment of mental health conditions on an outpatient basis. Currently, all states have laws which cover the involuntary treatment of patients who present an IMMINENT danger to self or others, but we don't have consistency in these laws and we don't have involuntary outpatient treatment for identified patients who meet all of the criteria for involuntary inpatient care without the "imminent" piece of the criteria being met. Had Virginia had such a law, the individual who perpetrated the crimes on the campus of Virginia Tech may have been in a more highly monitored treatment program, and there is a chance that the tragedy could have been avoided. We've worked to minimize the use of inpatient treatment for the mentally ill, but we haven't put the appropriate safeguards in place in order to manage serious mental illness on an outpatient basis.

There are four things that I believe are essential components of healthcare reform:

The first is the elimination of pre-existing condition clauses. No one should be penalized for having had an illness which was outside of their control.

The second is to provide insurance coverage for dependent children until they are 25 years old. Many of the uninsured in our country are young adults who are in graduate school or who have not yet obtained employment which provides healthcare benefits upon the completion of undergraduate school.

The third is parity for mental health conditions. I met Patrick Kennedy while volunteering in Delaware and talked to him about this issue (which is very close to his heart). We must eliminate discrimination for treatment of mental illness and we must reduce the stigma associated with seeking treatment for mental illness.

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