Should Medical Coverage Include Mental Health Care?April, 2007
In the aftermath of the Virginia Tech tragedy, parents, students, and lawmakers are struggling with issues of mental health care. Should
individual health insurance offer medical coverage for those with mental illness? If so, then many sufferers who are dangerous to themselves or others could receive the kind of treatment they need. But, how can an already straining healthcare system cope with the costs?
During any one-year period, up to 50 million Americans, more than 22%, suffer from a clearly diagnosable mental disorder involving a degree of incapacity that interferes with employment, attendance at school or daily life. And, As many as 80% of people suffering from mental illnesses can effectively return to normal, productive lives if they receive appropriate treatment.
With so much clearly riding on the mental health care of those who suffer from mental illness, it would make sense that many people want
medical coverage for the mentally ill. But the costs of such an endeavor make it very difficult to achieve.
The direct costs of support and medical treatment of mental illnesses total $55.4 billion a year. That's a very big tab.
But, can we afford
not to do something for those who need help? There has been a recent and notable rise in the utilization of mental health care services, particularly for young Americans as they enter the college school system. At the
citizen-times.com, Calvin Kelly, interim director of counseling at UNC Asheville is quoted as saying that there were more than 1,600 appointments made at the counseling center this fall, a 21 percent increase from the previous year, with the greatest increase occurring in the number of emergency crisis calls from students contemplating suicide or needing immediate help."
This trend is much the same all over the country. Mental illness is receiving better treatment, and carries somewhat less stigma, than in past years, making mental health care a more viable option to those who need it. At the same time, the fast paced and sometimes traumatic experiences of modern life are also leading to an increased "severity and frequency" of problems like substance abuse, sexual abuse, and more.
All of which points to a need for individual health insurance plans that cover mental illness, as well as family health insurance and group health insurance plans that do the same.
Facts on:
Individual Health Insurance
Did you know...
More than 22% of Americans suffer from a clearly diagnosable mental disorder?
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The indirect costs, such as lost employment, reduced productivity, criminal activity, vehicular accidents and social welfare programs increase the total cost of mental and substance abuse disorders to more than $273 billion a year. That's a lot of money that could be re-routed into a healthier, more stable society.
But as we have seen at Virginia Tech, some things are just more important than money anyway.
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