A Broken System : Mental Health Care Reform

Mental health in America is a stigmatized topic that affects nearly 20% of the population and around 1 in 4 people will be affected by a mental illness at some point in their life (World Health Organization, 2010). However, due to the stigma behind mental health, people often do not seek treatment. As for the homeless population, the rates are much higher, with 1 in 4 homeless individuals living with a severe mental illness (Jasinski, Wesely, Mustaine, & Wright, 2005). These people and this population struggles to receive adequate healthcare, but with the enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or better known as ObamaCare, there have been positive change made to help these individuals. However, the ACA is not perfect and there are

Problem Statement: The World Health Association defines ‘good’ health as: “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” However, in the United States, access to care and funding for mental health care are grossly neglected and underfunded in comparison to other aspects of health care.

In the United States alone, approximately 20% of Americans experience a mental illness in a given year, and 1 in 25 Americans live with a serious mental illness that significantly impacts one or more life activities (NAMI.org, 2015). These disorders span across the lifetime, many starting by the age of 14, and mental health care is often the root of progress or hindrance for a person whose life is impacted by these unseen disorders. Though it is not always evident that an individual is experiencing mental illness, these complications influence the daily lives of millions of people worldwide, regardless of age, culture, race, religion, or other delineation. As a result, it is vital that this sector of healthcare be thoroughly examined for inefficiencies,

To understand the effect of mental illness in the United States you have to examine the past and see how certain issues were resolved. In the 19th century the first known global mental health activist was Dorothea Dix. Her work helped to bring awareness to the topic of mental health and allowed treatment in this field to become more well known. During this time she visited a jail in Massachusetts where she saw that criminals, mentally ill individuals, and people with developmental disabilities were living in unsanitary conditions together. Dorothea’s work helped people to open up their original thoughts and beliefs about mental illness being an actual illness and not being treated as a disease. Today many nonprofit and advocacy groups have limited resources and human capital in the area of research and awareness campaigns

throughout Missouri, Strangler used his experience and power to persuade legislature to provide the funds.

There is so much that can be done to create more access to mental health care but we need to start somewhere. To reduce the effects of untreated mental health care, access to care needs to become available to everyone. Having care and access to that care is essential in treating mental illness and to help provide a better life to those suffering from mental illness. Access to care needs to increase so that everyone in the world has a fair shot at receiving help. It's time to take a stand and increase the access to mental health

As we see this trend continue to play out, we have noticed a spike in incarceration and homelessness of those suffering with mental health and substance abuse issues (Marroquin, 2016). Unfortunately, the bill fails to address these issues. While access to mental health services is increased due to this bill, many prisoners, and homeless people, who lack a stable income and health insurance, cannot get the help that they need. One statistic that I found particularly alarming in the State of Mental Health in America: 2017 is that more than half of all people incarcerated in jails or prisons have a mental health disorder. This bill does not do enough to address that issue. We should be doing more to help criminals who suffer from mental illness. Locking them up is not effective. One way we could enact change through legislation is by increasing funding for programs such as the Assertive Community Treatment, which aims to reduce incarceration time. The Real Diversion program could also be expanded. This would keep criminals suffering from mental illness out of jail by pleading guilty to their crimes and then getting help for their problems. Homelessness and incarceration are not the only issues brushed over by the Mental Health Reform Act 2016. So is age. One limitation of the bill is Sec. 202 of Title ii, which states that federal payment through Title XIX of the Social Security Act will be given out to people aged 21 through 65 “receiving inpatient treatment in institutions for mental diseases,” (Mental Health Reform Act 2016). What makes this section of the bill limiting is the age restriction. As pointed out by the State of Mental Health in America: 2017, 66% of youth with Major Depressive Episodes (MDE) do not get treatment for their disorder, and this may be due to the lack of federal funding of inpatient care at institutions for mental

In today’s society there is a greater awareness of mental illnesses. With this greater awareness one might assume that there would be a substantial increase in government involvement or funding in the area of mental illness treatment. Unfortunately this isn’t the case in the U.S. today. There are hundreds of thousands of people with mental illness that go untreated. These potential patients go untreated for many reasons. These reasons are discussed in the Time article “Mental Health Reform: What Would it Really Take.

The efforts aimed to integrate behavioral health services into mainstream medical service will affect the lives of many Americans positively, as only a small percentage of people who need treatment for alcoholism, drug and substance abuse and other mental conditions actually get the treatment in the absence of proper legislation. As many as 89% of people who required treatment for mental disorders and addiction in 2010 did not get treatment due to unfavorable and restrictive health plans which they may not afford anyway. 25% of grown-ups in the United States suffer from some sort of mental disorder. Regulation of the group health plans and insurance benefits helps to alleviate this situation, but more should be done in the way of correcting detrimental (old) laws.

On August 29, 2016, Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton released an impressive plan for addressing the issue of mental health care in the United States.1 This plan echoes numerous bipartisan bills that have been produced in Congress over the past several years and seems to be one of the few issues that both sides of the aisle can agree on.2 Earlier this year, a bill providing additional support to mental health care was passed in the House with a 422-22 vote3, so it is now up to the Senate to pass its own reform. If lawmakers fail to send a bill to President Obama before leaves office, which is likely, the responsibility will fall on the next president to move forward. If this turns out to be Ms. Clinton, her stance on the subject is obvious. She and the lawmakers working on these issues already seem to agree on many important aspects; first and foremost that treatment of mental and physical health should be given the same priority. Other aspects of Clinton’s plan focus on early diagnosis and intervention, federal support for suicide prevention, improved outcomes in the criminal justice system, and integrating the mental and physical health care systems. Another large piece is putting resources toward supporting and enforcing laws already in place. Ms. Clinton also proposed $5 billion for community health centers to provide mental health and substance abuse treatment in addition to traditional medical care and advocated for the use of telemedicine to

The only way for mental health and addictions to be supportive and change is through continuation of education, awareness, and getting bills passed on the floor. Even though the Civil Rights Act passed just over fifty years ago this country still has a problem! So, how in the world do we expect for the government to play a role in something that is still misunderstood? There are those who despise the Affordable Health Care Act, and there are those who ignore the urgency to reform the mental health care for people and families. Sure, billions of dollars are spent on treatments, but it’s not enough. Most of the money is spent towards prescriptions. Other problems such as attitudes and stigmas continue to be barriers to services in our communities.

The goals of the Improving Access to Emergency Psychiatric Care Act align with the three core principles of the broader Affordable Care Act: “Improving access to and satisfaction with care, improving quality and outcomes of care, and reducing total health care costs” (Katon and Unützer, 2013). In both its direct impact on the nation’s neglected mentally ill population and the precedent that it reinforces with respect to systematic health care reform, the Improving Access to Emergency Psychiatric Care Act is an outstanding law that exemplifies the cooperation of prescriptive legislation and outcome-driven administration in formulating and implementing effective domestic policy.

Nearly half of Americans facing mental health conditions go without essential support and services – while many others only get minimal care. I urge you to take and stand and vote “yes” to S. 2860, the Mental Health Reform Act of 2016.

The Mental Health Care system is really important to our society. What might happen if the workforce in the Mental Health System didn 't meet the qualifications to support the mentally ill? It means thousands of people with mental health problems are at risk of not getting the urgent care in emergencies because of a lack in staff and supplies. For the most part America has a better control on their Mental Health Care System, but it is a whole different story in the United Kingdom. One thousand people who had experienced a mental health crisis in the last five years located in the UK were interviewed and asked “If they had felt they received all the support they needed in their emergency?” Only fourteen percent said yes to this interview conducted by one of the National Health Services (NHS) Mental Health trusts. Trust retain their operational responsibly for acute and primary care services, so in other words England’s Mental Health Care System can make as many mistakes as they want and not get sued for them. We talked about the United Kingdom not having enough qualifications to work with the mentally ill, now lets get more information on these workers and their schooling. In Britain to get a doctorate 's degree for Psychology it only takes 3 to 5 years and that is including the little training you need. As for schooling in America for a Doctorate 's degree for Psychology it will take you at least 6 to 8 years and that is not including the formal training and supervised

Mental health issues are increasing and not enough people are receiving adequate health care if any. Mental health can affect anyone regardless of who we are, where we are and how much money we have. And as we watch the news daily, we see people with very serious issues that impact many people. The community is affected either by actual lives loss, our health care system, or quality of life. Working in bed management allows me to see the entire population entering the hospital. Aside from the psych unit, a lot of the patients are being admitted for medical problems have a history of some type of mental health issue that may or may not flaunt itself during there hospital stay, which in turn, negatively affects other patients, staff, their families and increases length of stay.