Mental Health Care For Low Income Americans

Mental Health America (formerly known as the National Mental Health Association) is the country’s leading nonprofit dedicated to helping all people live mentally healthier lives. With more than 320 affiliate nationwide, we represent a growing movement of Americans who promote mental wellness for the health and well being of the nation, every day, and in a time of crisis (2007 Mental Health America). As an organization, Mental Health America has been around for nearly a century. We began work in 1909 when Clifford W. Beers, a young business man who struggled with a mental illness and shared his story with the world in his autobiography “A Mind

Mental Health coverage prior to the Affordable Care Act was far to none. With about nearly one-third of currently covered individuals having no coverage for substance abuse disorder services and approximately 20% having no coverage for mental health services. Services such as outpatient therapy visits, impatient crisis intervention and stabilization were among many that were not offered. Since the Affordable Health Care Act has been passed more individuals are able to afford health insurance that were once uninsured. It has helped many individuals in being able to obtain medical services that were once inaccessible.

One of the biggest contributors for poor healthcare is the stigma against mental health. This stigma allows healthcare providers to view those with a mental illness as having low relevance, thus creating disinclination towards providing adequate resources and/or care. This negative stance, based on misinformation and prejudice creates those that have a mental illness to lose their self confidence. Because of this loss, people with mental illness decide not to contribute to their health or livelihood. In the past fifty years, many advances have been made in mental healthcare. However, with the attached stigma, many people choose to not seek out treatment.

Across the country, a steady increase has been noted in the number of patients presenting to emergency departments for psychiatric complaints (Zun, 2014). Patients also attempt to use their primary care doctors to treat their mental illnesses. The mental health care options for these patients are extremely limited, especially for minority populations such as African Americans and Hispanics. One out of four adults in America suffers from some form of mental illness, yet only one out of three of those affected receives treatment (Safran, 2009). Furthermore, patients are routinely misdiagnosed, receive poor quality of care, receive care from providers who have no understanding of their cultures and values, or are not even able to receive care in the first place (Sanchez, 2012).

According to the World Health Organization, mental illness will affect approximately 25% of people at some point in their life (“WHO Qualityrights”, n.d.). Despite that, the current mental health care system in the United States is inadequate. Many aspects of the system need improving, especially the barriers to service. In fact, approximately 20% of individuals are left without necessary treatment for their mental health disorder (“Mental Health”, 2016). Mentally ill individuals have difficulty accessing necessary mental health care services for various reasons; insurance, socioeconomic status, and mental health stigma can all function as barriers to treatment. Insurance discrimination can make it difficult for individuals to find treatment (Han, Call, Pintor, Alarcon-Espinoza, & Simon, 2015). Gaps in insurance coverage can also be a barrier, as they disrupt the long-term treatment process (Gulley, Rasch, & Chan 2011). Socioeconomic status has been found to negatively affect appointment scheduling (Kugelmass, 2016). Finally, stigma in our society can also stop people from seeking out treatment that they need (Bathje & Pryor, 2011). The mental health system in the United States is not capable of caring for the mentally ill, as insurance, socioeconomic status, and perceived stigma all act as barriers that prevent people from receiving the treatment they need.

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.

Seeking to improve care and lower costs, Florida became the first state to offer a Medicaid health plan designed exclusively for people with serious mental illnesses, such as schizophrenia, major depression, or bipolar conditions. The plan offered by Connecticut-based Magellan Complete Care - is part of a state experimentation to co-ordinate physical and mental healthcare for those enrolled in Medicaid. Mental illness is a big driver of Medicaid costs because it is twice as prevalent among beneficiaries of the public insurance program for the poor as it is among the general population. Studies show that enrollees with mental illness, who also have chronic physical conditions, account

The United States has never had an official federal-centered approach for mental health care facilities, entrusting its responsibility to the states throughout the history. The earliest initiatives in this field took place in the 18th century, when Virginia built its first asylum and Pennsylvania Hospital reserved its basement to house individuals with mental disorders (Sundararaman, 2009). During the 19th century, other services were built, but their overall lack of quality was alarming. Even then, researchers and professionals in the mental health field attempted to implement the principles of the so-called public health, focusing on prevention and early intervention, but the funds were in the hands of the local governments, which prevented significant advances in this direction.

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.

Lack of access to mental health care and treatment is one of the top ten reasons that many mental health conditions go untreated. Many private and group health insurance plans only include minimal mental health care coverage or do not incorporate mental health care coverage at all. Over half of adult citizens of the United States of America, who possess a mental illness, do not obtain mental health care treatment. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, one out of every five adults in America have endured their own mental health difficulty, and one out of every twenty-five American adults suffer from a severe mental illness, such as major depression, schizophrenia, or bipolar disorder. (Top 5 Barriers to Mental Healthcare Access, Social Solutions.com, 2017)

Access to mental health care is not as good as than other forms of medical services. Some Americans have reduced access to mental health care amenities because they are living in a countryside setting. Others cannot get to treatment for the reason of shortage of transportation or vast work and household tasks. In some areas, when a

The treatment and prevention of mental illness can be difficult, and as with physical illness, no case or result is the same for everyone. Treatment varies for each illness, as well as for individual client needs and level of severity. With the numerous choices of treatment available today, people around the world have a greater chance at not only preventing or decreasing mental illness, but also the opportunity to enhance their mental health through the public health model of primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention.

Health insurance is a critical factor in influencing timely access to health care. Persons without insurance are more likely to be at jeopardy of having no regular health provider, obtaining preventative care, necessary health tests, and prescriptions. Lack of health insurance has been identified as one of the leading health indicators, and predictor of overall health status (Bolin & Gamm, 2010). Health insurance is a determinate as to likelihood of health care treatment meaning that many people will go untreated for a span of mental health issue. Even as healthcare initiatives are instituted and government healthcare plans improve, clinics like the Rockbridge Area Free Clinic are essential to the wellbeing of communities. Organizations such

One in five adults has a mental health condition, that's over 40 million Americans; more than the populations of New York and Florida combined (Mental Health in America, 2017). More Americans have access to health care services by the Affordable Care Act. Access to insurance and treatment increased, as healthcare reform has reduced the rates of uninsured adults. The greatest decrease in uninsured adults with mental illnesses was seen in states that expanded Medicaid, but most Americans still lack access to care; 56% of American adults with a mental illness do not receive treatment (Mental Health in America, 2017). Even in Maine, the state with the best access, 41.4% of adults with a mental illness do not receive treatment (Mental Health in America, 2017). There is a serious