Our Health Policy Matters

I admit it.  I have Obamacare fatigue. I’m tired of endless stories about website glitches and the small numbers of people who rushed to buy health insurance three months before it would even go into effect.  But I am most fatigued by the newest invented controversy about the so-called “health-insurance-you-like” policies that have been outlawed because they do not meet even the bare minimum standards established by the law.  That’s right – the American people just love lousy health insurance! Source: NSDUH, 2013 So I thought I would write about something less controversial – drugs.  Because some new facts suggest that if we really want to change a useless federal policy, we will end – as quickly as we can – our failed War on Drugs. President Richard M. Nixon declared “War on Drugs” in June of 1971.   We have been fighting this war for forty-two years now, long enough to determine if it has made any difference in our lives.  It has.  ...

I admit it.  I have Obamacare fatigue. I’m tired of endless stories about website glitches and the small numbers of people who rushed to buy health insurance three months before it would even go into effect.  But I am most fatigued by the newest invented controversy about the so-called “health-insurance-you-like” policies that have been outlawed because they do not meet even the bare minimum standards established by the law.  That’s right – the American people just love lousy health insurance! Source: NSDUH, 2013 So I thought I would write about something less controversial – drugs.  Because some new facts suggest that if we really want to change a useless federal policy, we will end – as quickly as we can – our failed War on Drugs. President Richard M. Nixon declared “War on Drugs” in June of 1971.   We have been fighting this war for forty-two years now, long enough to determine if it has made any difference in our lives.  It has.  ...

Connecticut spends four times more per capita on state mental health services than Texas.  In Florida, 25 percent fewer people report having mental illnesses than in Washington. Across the nation, there are significant differences in the amounts states spend on mental health services.  Connecticut spends $189 per capita, while Texas spends only $39. But there are also significant differences in the reported prevalence of mental illnesses.  For example, fewer than 18 percent of Floridians report having a mental illness during the past year, but in Washington almost 24 percent do. But what happens when you put spending and prevalence together?  Some new rankings emerge that give you a measure of each state’s real commitment to protecting mental health – and treating mental illness – in their population.  This week, I have ranked all fifty states using both spending and prevalence data.       I have taken per capita m...

Connecticut spends four times more per capita on state mental health services than Texas.  In Florida, 25 percent fewer people report having mental illnesses than in Washington. Across the nation, there are significant differences in the amounts states spend on mental health services.  Connecticut spends $189 per capita, while Texas spends only $39. But there are also significant differences in the reported prevalence of mental illnesses.  For example, fewer than 18 percent of Floridians report having a mental illness during the past year, but in Washington almost 24 percent do. But what happens when you put spending and prevalence together?  Some new rankings emerge that give you a measure of each state’s real commitment to protecting mental health – and treating mental illness – in their population.  This week, I have ranked all fifty states using both spending and prevalence data.       I have taken per capita m...