Our Health Policy Matters

At least thirty-six states increased funding for mental health services during 2013, according to a recent report by the National Alliance on Mental Illness .  And last week, Vice President Biden announced that the federal government was adding $100 million in new funding for mental health services. So have we turned the corner on our nation’s mental health funding crisis, as many of the accompanying news headlines seemed to imply?  Or are these initiatives more a token gesture aimed at mollifying the mental health advocacy community in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook massacre, as others have suggested ?  I think that – with a couple of notable exceptions in Connecticut and Texas – the initiatives tend more toward tokenism than real change. Consider the national initiative.  On the face of it, $100 million sounds like a lot of money.  But it still represents only around 3 percent of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (S...

At least thirty-six states increased funding for mental health services during 2013, according to a recent report by the National Alliance on Mental Illness .  And last week, Vice President Biden announced that the federal government was adding $100 million in new funding for mental health services. So have we turned the corner on our nation’s mental health funding crisis, as many of the accompanying news headlines seemed to imply?  Or are these initiatives more a token gesture aimed at mollifying the mental health advocacy community in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook massacre, as others have suggested ?  I think that – with a couple of notable exceptions in Connecticut and Texas – the initiatives tend more toward tokenism than real change. Consider the national initiative.  On the face of it, $100 million sounds like a lot of money.  But it still represents only around 3 percent of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (S...

On December 8, 2010, Jack Dalrymple, a Republican Governor in the safely Republican state of North Dakota, sent a budget to the state Legislative Assembly calling for an $8 million increase in funding for mental health services. His transmittal message accompanying his FY2011-2013 proposed budget was simple. “We… need to make investments that help take care of people.  We have all been alarmed recently about teen suicide rates, especially on our Native American reservations.  These highlight the need to make more resources available for critical mental health services for our citizens.” So, in a $3.3 billion general fund budget, he proposed over $6 million for new inpatient services, community crisis stabilization, and drug dependency treatment.  He also proposed $1 million for suicide prevention, another million dollars for mental health services on college and high school campuses, and a rate increase for mental health providers.  He summed up thes...

On December 8, 2010, Jack Dalrymple, a Republican Governor in the safely Republican state of North Dakota, sent a budget to the state Legislative Assembly calling for an $8 million increase in funding for mental health services. His transmittal message accompanying his FY2011-2013 proposed budget was simple. “We… need to make investments that help take care of people.  We have all been alarmed recently about teen suicide rates, especially on our Native American reservations.  These highlight the need to make more resources available for critical mental health services for our citizens.” So, in a $3.3 billion general fund budget, he proposed over $6 million for new inpatient services, community crisis stabilization, and drug dependency treatment.  He also proposed $1 million for suicide prevention, another million dollars for mental health services on college and high school campuses, and a rate increase for mental health providers.  He summed up thes...

Isn’t it worth a few dollars to preserve essential mental health services?   It would appear that many state legislators would say no. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, states have cut a total of $1.6 billion for mental health services over the past three years. That was just the teaser.   This year, states around the country are making people with mental illness pay the price for tax cuts and deficits. NAMI state-by-state data show that the State of Florida spends no more for mental health services than it did in 2009.   But Health News Florida reports that the Florida Senate has proposed millions of dollars of cuts to mental health.   Next week, its Appropriations Committee will vote whether to cut $137 million from adult mental health services, 57% of the total outpatient budget.   Anyone who thinks these services aren’t essential should think again. On a single day this spring, in addition to offering its full array of group counseli...

Isn’t it worth a few dollars to preserve essential mental health services?   It would appear that many state legislators would say no. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, states have cut a total of $1.6 billion for mental health services over the past three years. That was just the teaser.   This year, states around the country are making people with mental illness pay the price for tax cuts and deficits. NAMI state-by-state data show that the State of Florida spends no more for mental health services than it did in 2009.   But Health News Florida reports that the Florida Senate has proposed millions of dollars of cuts to mental health.   Next week, its Appropriations Committee will vote whether to cut $137 million from adult mental health services, 57% of the total outpatient budget.   Anyone who thinks these services aren’t essential should think again. On a single day this spring, in addition to offering its full array of group counseli...