Clinton’s campaign is releasing a multi-pronged approach to mental health on Monday. Hillary has been talking about mental health policy throughout her campaign, since hearing directly from American parents, students, veterans, nurses, and police officers about how these challenges keep them up at night.
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And if she’s elected president come November, Clinton also promises to hold a White House conference on these issues during her first year in office.
In it, she pledged to integrate mental health services into the U.S.’ health care system and put mental health treatment “on par with that of physical health”.
It would expand the reimbursement systems for collaborative care models under Medicare and Medicaid that aim to treat patients through a team of health care professionals, including a primary care doctor, a care manager and a behavioral health specialist. Her agenda would focus on early diagnosis and intervention and create a national initiative for suicide prevention. The overall rate of suicide increased by 24 percent between 1999 and 2014, and is now at its highest level in 30 years. Clinton’s commitment to expanded funding for community health care programs was announced last month, according to Politico; it’s likely Sanders’ focus on the issue pushed her to do more to support community programs. In addition to assurance of functional mental health parity laws, AFSP advocates for an increase in suicide prevention research funding and consistent attention to preventing suicide among veterans and individuals in the military.
A Senate committee in March passed the Mental Health Reform Act of 2016, which aims to expand access to care, although the bill has not yet been considered by the full Senate. Clinton says, as president, these laws would be enforced and randomized insight would be implemented.
Clinton calls for HHS and HUD to develop a plan where the agencies partner to offer Housing Choice Vouchers and mortgage assistance subsidies to individuals who qualify for mental health aid.
Study after study shows that LGBT Americans suffer from mental health disorders at rates far exceeding heterosexual, cisgender people – depression strikes gay men at six times the rate of straight men; almost half of transgender people experience symptoms of anxiety and depression; lesbians and bisexual women also deal with higher rates of mental health problems than their straight sisters, with bisexual women faring even worse than lesbians. Finally, she will work to strengthen mental health services for incarcerated individuals and ensure continuity of care so that they get the treatment they need, which will improve outcomes for them after they reenter society and will reduce recidivism.
– Expanding housing access and job opportunities, including joint initiatives with the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Health and Human Services.
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For far too long, the “invisible wounds” of mental illness has been a majorly ignored step in the path toward comprehensive American healthcare. The campaign says it will also increase federal investment in things like drug and veterans’ courts, both of which try to divert people into rehab and other forms of treatment and away from jail. “We must do better”.
