Persuasive Essay On Mental Health Reform

The Mental Health Services Act is a monumental proposition that has helped many people for more than a decade. In California alone, close to 1.2 million adults and around 422,000 children live with a serious mental illness (State 2010). Without the proper treatment, suicide is the leading cause of death for a person battling an untreated mental illness (State 2010). With over thirteen billion dollars raised so far, MHSA has been the root of funding for mental health in California (Williams 2015). MHSA is still a work in progress. The act is nowhere near perfect, as a recent audit has shown, but it is certainly a step in the right direction.

An interesting finding by Huskamp and Iglehart (2016) is that between the Mental Health Parity Act (MHPA) and the Affordable Care Act (ACA), there should be a rise in people with mental illness seeking services, however, services are underutilized more than ever (Huskamp & Iglehart, 2016). According to Bendant (2014), in 2013 a total of 47 million people uninsured and 25% of those suffer mental illness (Bendant, 2014). These numbers are staggering for a service that is more inclusive now more than ever. The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) site indicates that the MHPA is regulated differently depending on the state (CMS, n. d.). The Department of Labor (DOL) has identified a few problems with the MHPA and addressed these issues to Congress via a 2017 report (DOL, n.

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,

Due to the politics underlying both, gun control and mental-health legislation, this recent shift came with a lack of simplicity. Being careful not to ignite inaccurate stigmas about mental illnesses; advocacy groups and congressional Democrats remained reluctant not to connect escalating gun violence with people suffering from mental health disorders as the leading cause of these recent shootings. Deep disagreements on Capitol Hill, along with great demands from family members of individuals diagnosed with severe mental illness would not come cheap. Also, it would only become another obstacle standing in the way of accomplishing the goal of bringing change to the mental health system (Sun,

What is left is that we have many citizens who are mentally ill and are not receiving treatment. However the patients who are able to receive treatment are only able to have some treatment covered. Health insurers are responsible for covering the immensely large cost of substantial treatment, a mixture of medication and therapy; since therapy is highly priced, less reliable, and time consuming; patients typically do not receive treatment for therapy. Health insurers would much rather cover medication because it is cheaper, it heals patients faster, and it is more reliable than therapy. However, medication is not made to heal, but to only coax symptoms of a mental illness (Sandberg).

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.

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

Serious mental illness (SMI) impacts a person’s thinking, mood, capability to maintain relationships, and overall ability to maintain normal activities of daily living. Treatment is necessary for all individuals with a serious mental illness. Along with family and friends, the community is impacted when supportive treatment options cannot be obtained by a person with a SMI. The Omaha/Council Bluffs metropolitan area, along with the state of Nebraska, have challenges to overcome to ensure this population is adequately cared for. Any person with a mental health issue have a lot to overcome. Undoubtedly, the state of Nebraska needs to stay on track to help them overcome these obstacles.

All of these people have the abiity to change this situation through compassion, voting, and creating new policy and awareness for people who suffer from mental health issues. Communities need to vote to allow funding to build a center to house people with mental health issues. Police officers need to be able to asses someone’s needs on the scene and transport them to the facility to be evaluated by medical personnel instead of a

The next facet of Knestrick and Milsteid’s framework (1998) is legislative action. Reflecting back to the 1990’s the Institute of Medicine published a series of reports informing on the need to integrate primary care services with mental health and SUD’s, however, legislation failed to support this recommendation until the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (MHPAEA). The MHPAEA act requires equal insurance coverage

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 vote,3 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. This sometimes-complicated checks and balances system between the legislative and executive branches, as well as the multitude of steps that must be taken to pass and enact new legislation, is essential to ensure a thorough vetting of the bill and its purpose while also playing an important role in the preservation of liberty.4 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; one of the biggest points of agreement being 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

Legislators have great power and influence over state and federal laws by nature of their job. They are entrusted by citizens to represent them in the senate and congress. In April 2011, Aileen Gunther, RN, introduced a bill that would help protect citizens by proposing changes to a law that provides outpatient treatment for the mentally ill who live out in the community but require supervision. The changes would require people with mental illness who have violent tendencies to be monitored by a local mental health program. It also assured that the person would receive treatment of the same manner even if they relocated to a different area (Boyd, 2011). Not only does is a bill like this good for the community, but it is also good for the patient.

About half a century ago, congress created the medicaid law, which stated that states that funds must be used for physical conditions, but is not required to treat mental conditions. The conditions for treatment worsened in the 1970’s and 1980’s, Medicaid began paying for psychiatric hospitalizations for patients under 21. In the 1980s, it began paying for psychiatric hospitals with fewer than 16 beds. “People were operating under the belief that mental health was a black hole for money," says Ron Manderscheid, executive director of the National Association of County Behavioral Health & Disability Development

Nearly 23% (137,000) of Iowans have serious or chronic mental illnesses. (Kathie) However, there are only 64 “state mental hospital beds” and slightly more than 650 “private beds”. (Kathie Justin) Although not all of these Iowans will need to be hospitalized, the option is almost nonexistent. For every 190 Iowans suffering from a mental illness, there is only one bed. This is not nearly close enough ratio to effectively provide the care needed. There are other options to available to get help, but the current system in place has innumerable flaws that need to be addressed. Larry Iddings, a Senior Psychiatric Rehabilitation Practitioner at Broadlawns Medical Center, knows the struggle of the current system very well. One

Our mental health system is in overdrive and it’s strained so much that some people who are ill and need support, slip by without even being noticed. On the other hand the number of people seeking help has been steadily rising over the years and continues to creep up on us.