Access To Health Care

Access to Healthcare is important in maintaining one’s health. With changes in the law and policies that govern healthcare such as the Affordable Care Act recently enacted, more and more individuals are being afforded the opportunity to obtain health insurance and seek medical attention. Over the years however, an area in the healthcare industry that has been left behind in seeing significant changes in regards to healthcare access is in Mental Health. Although today more Americans have access to health insurance, getting access to mental health services is still challenging, even more so for youth suffering with mental health illnesses. Laws such as the Affordable Care Act have recognized treatment of mental health disorders and have integrated …show more content…
My oldest daughter suffers from mental health illnesses and has since she was young. We have personally faced many of the barriers mentioned in this paper and we have one of the best insurance plans available as we are military and covered through Tricare. We have struggled primary care physicians understanding, identifying and diagnosing her illnesses. We have also struggled with finding mental health providers who specialize in child/adolescent mental health. In fact most recently we were denied a move due to the fact that there were no providers available in the location to take on new patients and/or specialized in working with youth. Throughout the years, we struggled with finding community services available such as in-patient treatment facilities available during crisis moments. I cannot fathom how difficult it must be for other families and/or other adolescents who do not have the resources we have, as limited as they may be. With twenty percent of youth suffering from mental health illnesses and the increase in public awareness of mental illnesses, why hasn’t more been done to minimize the challenges these individuals face? What can be …show more content…
I feel that these suggestions are a step in the right direction in improving access to mental health care for youth. One con in these suggestions is the amount of funding required by the state and federal governments. I do believe that better education for parents, youth and healthcare providers is needed as well as an increase in available providers who specialize in youth and facilities available to accommodate youth mental health needs. With that said however, I do not feel that all cost associated with mental health care access for youth or mental health care in general should be the sole financial burden of the government. I believe that more laws need to be passed that mandate mental health services be available as part of insurance plans, that mental health illnesses be seen the same as physical and neurological disabilities and treated accordingly. I also feel that the cost associated with mental health illnesses be equal to those of other health care cost and that there not be a limitation on amount of treatment visit as most mental illnesses are lifelong illnesses and require continuous treatment. While the NCCP suggestions are not perfect, they are in fact a movement in the right direction in addressing the challenges Adolescents face in access to mental health