Mental Health Care Improvements

In the wake of recent shootings, the nation is taking a closer look at mental health care and how it is being handled. The current mental health system in the United States is lacking to say the least, preventing millions of people dealing with psychological issues from receiving the proper treatment. U.S. mental health experts urge lawmakers to fill these gaps in the health care system, pointing out that not receiving treatment can result in violent behavior as we saw in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

People with serious mental illnesses often fall through the gaps in our current health care system. According to Rick Cagen, executive director of the Kansas chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, one-third of people who need help don’t get it in time to avert a crisis. Experts nationwide are calling on policymakers to get better funding for early treatment.

At a hearing Thursday, January 24^th, Democrats and Republicans on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee met to address these gaps in health care and also urged the Obama administration to speed up revisions on the mental health care agenda.  With the passing of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, individuals suffering from mental illness should have better access to health insurance that covers mental health and substance abuse treatments.

Several other provisions of the health care reform law are also meant to help people with mental illness, including:

• Prevention programs

• Insurance plan for long-term community care

• Reauthorization of SCHIP, the children’s state health insurance program

• Improvements to Medicare’s drug benefits

Many states are also taking legislation into their own hands. Governor Mark Dayton of Minnesota released a proposal this week calling for counties to pay a larger share of the cost for patients receiving long term psychiatric care at two mental illness facilities. Counties are currently paying ten percent of treatment costs for residents, while Dayton’s proposal would increase that to fifty percent.