Improving Access To Mental Health Care Essay

Improved Essays
The H. R. Bill 1290 Improving Access to Mental Health Services Act represents a personally important issue, and I would like to express my support and endorsement of this bill. The American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA) supports proactive healthcare towards patient mental health improvement, since approximately 56 million Americans suffer from various mental health illnesses. Additionally, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) state that mental health illnesses will surpass all physical diseases worldwide by 2020. These alarming statistics require governmental action for improvement of American’s overall mental health.

Nursing professionals must provide safe and quality patient-centered care that promotes health of body and mind. Many Americans, who suffer from mental disorders, do not receive appropriate treatment due to inadequate access to mental health services. These patients experience co-morbidities, rebound episodes, and repeat hospitalizations. This implies greater expenditure in healthcare costs for patients, hospitals, mental health facilities, insurance companies, and governmental institutions. The initial investment to improve access to mental health services would eventually save money. Therefore, government can
…show more content…
This follow-up treatment plan would require increasing the numbers of available healthcare providers within Medicare, who are properly trained to aid afflicted patients. Consequently, mental health services would be more widely available, including outpatient psychotherapy and prescription drugs. The increase of available mental health services allows patients to remain well-balanced; thus, displaying improved mental health and productive relationships with other community

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    CVT And VRET Analysis

    • 903 Words
    • 4 Pages

    (p. 4). Above all, mental health services are noticeably essential as an increase in patients who need treatment regarding the state of his or her mental health disorder and/or illness for the past decade. For the most part, offering a wide-range of mental health treatments is indeed a notable challenge,…

    • 903 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The proposed bill will not only benefit healthcare in a positive way, but will greatly impact patients as well. First, patients will get the help they need, and will less likely be readmitted to an inpatient facility. As a result, the overall cost that a healthcare organization would have to pay for hospitalization would be decreased. Secondly, patients will receive further care by having an on-call case manager on standby if needed.…

    • 758 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Decent Essays

    After the school shooting in Florida, Trump sparks the decision of building or reopening mental institutions. The experts do not argue that having these institutions could have stopped the killings in Florida like Trump thinks, but they can make a difference in the mental health community. The mental health community is currently experiencing some hardship due to closed hospitals and not enough funding to the community mental health clinics. People with mental health disorders are not getting the proper care and treatment they need and are ending up in prisons. In these prisons, they are still not getting what they need plus so many inmates have disorders.…

    • 243 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Our social safety net is poor despite all we spend on health care; this means that despite initiatives to keep those who are most vulnerable to poverty from falling below poverty level, it is hard to do so (Rachlis, 2005). Mentally ill patients are discriminated against in the workplace because they are seen as independent or unreliable. This makes it more difficult to find a steady source of income and avoid falling into poverty levels. Institutionalization may treat some patients but when these facilities close down and the patients are put back into the environment that made them ill, it does no good. This illustrates the “revolving door syndrome” in…

    • 2044 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The United States of America is considered by most standards to be one of the most powerful, influential, and productive countries in the world, with a population of over three hundred million citizens, and a gross domestic product of almost seventeen and a half trillion dollars (World Bank). Yet beneath the surface of this magnificent nation there lies a tragic truth. The reality is, underneath the glorious lifestyles and towering cities, the United States is sick with a disease that affects nearly twenty percent of its populace (Bekiempis). Mental illness is the general term used to describe this “disease,” which includes a number of mental health disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and posttraumatic stress syndrome to name a few. These disorders can occur due to a multitude of reasons, however there are a specific set of circumstances that often induce and promote mental illness.…

    • 1280 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Better Access to Mental Health Care program was launched in 2006 and allowed people suffering from mental health conditions to receive psychological support through the Medicare system (Mullings, 2015). The Better Access program resulted in a two-tiered Medicare rebate system that saw clinical psychologists receiving higher Medicare rebates of $124.50, in comparison to general registered psychologists, who received a Medicare rebate of $84.80 (Meteyard & O'hara, 2015). This two tiered Medicare rebate system arose due to both clinical psychologists and the Australian Psychology Society (APS) stressing concerns about the limited training that different medical practitioners in psychology (such as general psychologists or counselling psychologists) received in regards to psychological therapies (Mullings, 2015). The APS state that the upper part of the tier should only include services provided by clinical psychologists because they possess the skills necessary to treat psychological and psychiatric disorders, and hence believe that the two-tiered structure should be maintained (The Australian Psychological Society, 2011).…

    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Affordable Health Care

    • 1271 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The purpose of this paper is to analyses and explore the affordable care act related to mental health…

    • 1271 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    1. Identify the disparity: Homelessness and mental illness in veterans 2. Summary of the article: Disparities in Housing Status Among Veterans with General Medical, Cognitive, and Behavioral Health Conditions studied the risk factors associated with homelessness and the existence of medical and mental issues within the veteran population. The study found that although medical issues such as diabetes and lung issues complicated the issues of homeless and wellness, mental health was a stronger predictor of homelessness and increased mortality.…

    • 534 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the 1980’s, the nation started addressing mental health again in the political forum. In 1980, the Mental Health Systems Act provided federal funding for ongoing support and development of community mental health programs with an emphasis on deinstitutionalization. Also in 1989, the Amendments to the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act proposed new federal requirements for long-term care which allowed more services in skilled nursing facilities for the aging, and it ended a 15-year period in which the federal regulations remained static (Allen, 2011). The expanded services in skilled nursing facilities provided mental health…

    • 869 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Treatment of Mentally Ill Offenders There is a major issue with the mental health treatment in our society. With much of America increasingly being diagnosed with a mental illness, it is still a much stigmatized disease. It is estimated that one out of every five Americans have been diagnosed with a mental disorder ranging from mild to severe. Yet, the extent of therapy and support programs available for the mentally ill is considerably insufficient. Deinstitutionalization ultimately had a negative impact on our society and was responsible in criminalizing the mentally ill.…

    • 1063 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    As the Hispanic population continues to grow, mental health status is not only an important part of the development of healthy Hispanic communities, but also important to the overall health of the United States. The impact of Hispanics as productive members of society will be diminished if their mental health issues are not effectively addressed. The development of mental health policies that meet the needs of this growing population is not only vital for Hispanics but for the overall health and productivity of the United States. 29 Standards that are stated in contracts or relationship between funding agencies and providers should include sanctions for nonperformance of culturally sensitive treatment services for the…

    • 159 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Exactly half of the prisoners in the U.S. have mental health issues, states a 2006 Justice Department Study. Through my research I have found that jails and prisons are without a doubt considered to be new mental health facilities for those with mental illnesses. There is a high percentage of people who suffer from mental illnesses in prisons and jails, which has caused a ripple effect in taxation. The problem that arises from incarcerating people with mental illness for petty crimes, is that the money could be used more effectively. Due to how mental health illnesses have been treated in the past, appropriate and effective use of screenings and facilities shows to have more success with helping those with mental illnesses.…

    • 807 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Background Historically individuals have faced medical and social boundaries for accessing mental health services. Health insurance plans discriminated against people living with a mental illness by offering fewer benefits and more restrictions for mental health treatment than medical treatment. To account for the disparity in services, the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 (MHPA) was enacted by Congress. The law represented progress in mental health policy, but it “did not address treatment limits, the restrictions on the types of facilities covered, differences in cost sharing, and the application of managed care techniques” (Health Affairs, 2014).…

    • 1691 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Mental health is one of the leading causes of health issues globally. One in four people will be affected with at least one mental health disorder during their lifetime. A person can only imagine how costly this must be for a country. This leads them to ask the question: how does mental health affect the economy of countries? In order to answer this inquiry, it is only logical to first explore the global prominence of mental health, how countries are using funding to help with the issue, and then see how the funding affects these countries from an economic aspect.…

    • 1792 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Public awareness of the effects of a lack of treatment for mental disorders is important to help those struggling with these disorders. Psychologists and other mental health care professionals see mental disorders, especially depression, as the horrible diseases that they are, and not just something that can be handled without professional help. This research is necessary in helping to prevent the suffering of those with depression by urging them to get help, instead of just struggling in silence. The purpose of this research is to show that many people, including children who rely on others to get the help that they need, often need assistance in getting the help with mental disorders that they deserve? Mental disorders such as depression are stigmatized in today 's culture, which leads to a lack of treatment or delay in treatment, an increase in suicide, and often other issues such…

    • 1080 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays