Groups lay out plan to transform U.S. mental health
From the, it’s so broken, can anything really fix it? file…
The United States can start to transform its fragmented mental health care system requiring insurers to treat mental illnesses like any other disease, a group of 16 organizations proposed on Wednesday.
The coalition of groups laid out a 28-point “road map” for Congress and the administration
“We proposed quite a few changes which we believe can be done in the short term,” Charles Konigsberg, director of the Campaign for Mental Health Reform, said in a telephone interview.
For one, Congress could enact the mental health parity legislation that has been pending. Medicaid could use its money more wisely by paying for cost-effective home care instead of institutionalized care, he added.
Families should be allowed to buy into Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance plan for the poor, to get access to treatment for their children.
“Medicare unfortunately discriminates against people with mental illness by requiring higher co-payments for mental health outpatient care. That could be fixed,” Konigsberg added.
You can learn more about their efforts by visiting their website at www.mhreform.org.
Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.Like this author?
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Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 29 Jul 2005
Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.
Grohol, J. (2005). Groups lay out plan to transform U.S. mental health. Psych Central. Retrieved on May 25, 2012, from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2005/07/29/groups-lay-out-plan-to-transform-us-mental-health/
