In 1996, Congress passed the Mental Health Parity Act, the first federal law to require that certain insurance providers consider mental health benefits the same as they would medical or surgical benefits. This breakthrough legislation paved the way for improved access to mental health care for the public. In 2008, the Mental Health Equity and Substance Abuse Parity Act was enacted, and in 2010, the Affordable Care Act, which furthered its reach.

Yet today, across the U.S., parity between mental health care and medical health care is far from achieved. Millions of people struggle to find, receive, and afford appropriate mental health treatment, and as a result, are forced to pay out-of-network costs or do not receive care at all. More than half of U.S. adults with a mental illness, or 27 million people, receive no medical treatment—a number that has been rising since 2011. Roughly 1 in 10 people who struggle with mental illnesses have no health insurance, and 60 percent of children experiencing major depression are not receiving care.

Though stigma still shrouds awareness, mental health issues are pervasive and have serious implications. Each year, more than 1 in 5 U.S. adults experience a mental illness.