HJNO May/Jun 2021

DIALOGUE 10 MAY / JUN 2021 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF NEW ORLEANS   Dianne Hartley, Editor There have been a pandemic and a riot on the U.S. Capitol since we last sat down. How are you doing these days, and how do you feel we, as a country (and Louisianians), are doing? Senator Bill Cassidy, MD There are a couple of ways to respond to that. I’m personally doing very well, thank you. But if you’re speaking of it in the context of healthcare, there are obviously millions of Americans who are not doing well. One, of course, we mourn those who we’ve lost. There have been high-profile people in Louisiana, but if it’s your family member, whether it’s a high profile or not, it’s your loss. Secondly is the economic impact — the restaurant owner, the coffee shop owner, the service that was no longer needed. I just passed someplace I used to go to all the time, and it’s closed forever. So, the economic impact has been huge. And, if you will, it’s drawn into a soci- ety level, that which we know on a personal level. If you don’t have your health, you don’t have much. In terms of the physical health of our society, it has suffered tremendously, and because of that, there has been economic damage. We’ve got to address both the COVID aspect, which we’re getting there, and then the economic fallout, which con- gress has tried to help theAmerican people through, but we just have to make sure that we continue our recovery. Editor A year of COVID-19 lockdowns, fear of contagion, social isolation and eco- nomic impacts have taxed the overall men- tal health of our citizens and exasperated an overburdened mental health system. How can you, from your position, help? Dr. Cassidy First, there is the impact upon students. We know that schools have been a major screener for problems in our home: signs of child abuse, of social isolation. Schools have played that role. So first, get- ting schools open is a huge part of being able to at least screen for potential mental health issues or social health issues occur- ring in a child’s life. Now let’s go to healthcare providers. There has been an increased rate of depres- sion, stress, suicide among healthcare pro- viders. I put forward legislation called the Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protec- tion Act, which is to prevent suicide, burn- out, mental health and behavioral health conditions among healthcare profession- als related to this pandemic. And then you may recall in 2016, Senator Chris Murphy and I passed legislation that was called the most sweeping mental health reform in the last 30 years. We recently passed, both of us together, The Mental Health Parity Compliance Act, in which we try to increase the transparency so that if somebody purchases health insurance, she or he knows what the mental health ben- efits are. It doesn’t have mandates beyond just telling the consumer what they’re pur- chasing, and we think that is a way to help patients who are interested in mental health coverage make sure they have it. I could go on, but those are the three levels that we think we’re directly or indirectly trying to address mental health issues. Editor Does that also cover addictions and rehab? Dr. Cassidy There are different provisions recently passed that further fund addiction programs, and we were making progress on decreasing the rate of opioid deaths prior to the pandemic. With the pandemic, we’ve seen a return to our previous high levels of addiction overdose, and that undoubtedly is related to the social isolation that has been enforced upon society by these lockdowns. And so, yes, as a separate measure, we’re attempting to strengthen those services for those who have addiction, because unfortu- nately we’ve seen a spike back up. Editor So, you mentioned schools. You made an interesting speech from the Senate floor the other day, saying that the 6 feet CDC social distance guidelines shouldn’t apply to school children — that 3 feet is sufficient. Let’s say your status as an MD carries a bit more weight than perhaps your counterparts in making COVID-19 related statements like this from the Sen- ate floor. Do you think that speech made a difference in getting more schools open? Dr. Cassidy I sure hope so. I will say that last week the CDC changed their guidelines from 6 feet to 3 feet, and it was based upon sci- ence. If there’s been a valid criticism of the government scientists, if you will, they’ve usually been behind where they could have been when it came to recommendations, and this was one example. They could have said 3 feet, not 6 feet, several weeks ago (or even longer), and they stayed with 3 feet. In fact, the researchers that established 3 feet is adequate felt as if their research had been misrepresented by the CDC. And so, I’m glad to see they changed the recommendation, and I think I was among a course of voices calling them out for this. I sure hope it made a difference.