Persons suffering from mental health conditions suffer them long before they warrant the "dangerous" moniker. The solution lies in substantive treatment of all mental health conditions.
The disparity of care between mental health conditions and all other health conditions is laughable, including in New York State, despite "mental health parity" rules. For those with Medicaid (public health program for those meeting certain low-income or disability criteria), this disparity isn't as severe. However, many young adults with serious mental illness are covered by commercial health plans via their parents, and it is these plans that are relatively weak when it comes to mental health coverage.
These plans do well when it comes to emergency, in-patient interventions, but fall short when it comes to ongoing outpatient support. Much of this is due to lack of participation by mental healthcare providers in the insurance reimbursement system, likely as a result of low reimbursement rates. Why see patients with serious mental illness reimbursed at $100 a session when one can see less complex patients paying cash at $150 or even $200 a session.
This has been exacerbated by the prevalence of mobile app-based therapy arrangements, which, again, are suitable for someone who is reasonably healthy and needs some additional support, but may be completely inappropriate for those with a serious mental health condition.
Mental health care parity laws need teeth. The free market will not solve this.
The disparity of care between mental health conditions and all other health conditions is laughable, including in New York State, despite "mental health parity" rules. For those with Medicaid (public health program for those meeting certain low-income or disability criteria), this disparity isn't as severe. However, many young adults with serious mental illness are covered by commercial health plans via their parents, and it is these plans that are relatively weak when it comes to mental health coverage.
These plans do well when it comes to emergency, in-patient interventions, but fall short when it comes to ongoing outpatient support. Much of this is due to lack of participation by mental healthcare providers in the insurance reimbursement system, likely as a result of low reimbursement rates. Why see patients with serious mental illness reimbursed at $100 a session when one can see less complex patients paying cash at $150 or even $200 a session.
This has been exacerbated by the prevalence of mobile app-based therapy arrangements, which, again, are suitable for someone who is reasonably healthy and needs some additional support, but may be completely inappropriate for those with a serious mental health condition.
Mental health care parity laws need teeth. The free market will not solve this.