Economic inequity is a factor in mental health woes
U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy in his Sunday piece “Giving Real Help to Mental Health” (March 19 Forum) attempts to flim-flam his constituents into believing that his legislative activities are actually doing something about the increasing depression-related mental health problems of alcohol and drug addiction and suicide. He does this through a confusing lack of actual facts, contradictory statements, the use of unexplained terms and references, and jumping back and forth in history.
In reality, Mr. Murphy and the Republicans aren’t doing anything about the lack of mental health professionals he mentions nor are they bringing mental health treatment to the rural areas of the country. And they certainly are not spending more money on the problem.
What really needs to be done is to address the likely cause of the sudden significant increase of serious mental health issues among the middle-aged, namely, the massive economic inequality that has been growing since the Reagan administration.
The effect of the decadeslong moving of money from the 99 percent to the largest contributors to the Republican Party is that middle-aged people are struggling with the fact that their lives will never be as good as their parents, let alone better. And their children’s lives will be worse than theirs.
Ironically, Mr. Murphy’s Trumpcare would have only made this worse by moving money from health care, including mental health care, to tax reductions for the very wealthy. The best thing he could do for our depressed middle-aged citizens is stop supporting laws that make them poorer. WARREN J. ARCHER
Upper St. Clair of Medicaid, which the federal government subsidized but which was rejected by 22 states with mostly Republican governors. In 2014 those states saw their cost to provide health care to the poor rise twice as fast as in states that extended Medicaid benefits.
Another ACA improvement was the prohibition on annual and lifetime limits for treatment, which existed in most private insurance plans. Up to 30 percent of those with individual or small group health insurance plans had no access to addiction treatment at all under their private plans. It was the ACA that applied federal parity protections to mental health and substance use disorder benefits in these two groups.
Does the ACA need to be improved and some changes made? Yes. Is it a far better framework to ensure as close to universal health care as America can get? Again yes. Let’s fix it. Let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water. PHILOMENA BRAMS
Upper St. Clair
A house divided cannot stand. There has never been more division in this country than there is right now. Politicians run for office, slamming the other candidate with all sorts of questionable claims.
We welcome your opinion
Then when they are elected, they continue their campaigning, while they are now working for the people who elected them.
You sometimes wonder if these people are Americans or riffraff from the local saloon. They never listen, though when they are quiet, you think they are listening, but actually they are already thinking of what garbage they can say next.
Unless they start listening to each other, and compromising with each other, not only will they fail, but they fail those who voted for them. So learn to get along with everyone, or learn to be alone. ROBERT T. NESTLER
Moon