California must fix appalling record on mental health parity
The manner in which California treats its mentally ill is fiscally and morally irresponsible.
The state Legislature is largely to blame.
It’s been 11 years since Congress passed a law requiring that people suffering mental health issues have the same access to health care as those with other medical ailments. Nearly 1 in 6 California adults experience a mental illness of some kind, and 1 in 24 have a serious mental illness that makes it difficult to carry out major life activities. But twothirds of adults and adolescents with major depressive episodes do not get treatment for their problems.
Four times in the last decade state Sen. Jim Beall, DSan Jose, has introduced legislation designed to help the mentally ill access treatment by enforcing federal and state mental health parity laws.
Four times the Legislature has failed to act, kowtowing to the insurance industry’s lobbying efforts at the expense of Californians.
It’s no wonder that Beall told CalMatters recently that “I’m madder than hell about it.”
Californians should be, too. They should pressure lawmakers to pass a tougher mental health parity law and send it to the governor for his signature.
Doctors know that mental health disorders are physical diseases. California has an obligation to start treating those with diseases of the mind with the same sympathy and urgency that we give to those with heart disease, diabetes, cancer and other diseases.
Many forms of mental illness are treatable, if not curable, if those suffering can be given the treatment and services they deserve. That approach is more effective, and cheaper, than treating the mentally ill as we do too often, in hospitals, jails and prisons.
An estimated 25% to 33% of California’s 130,000 homeless people have untreated mental health problems. Too many tie up police officers, who jail them or send them to hospital emergency rooms, where treatment can cost thousands of dollars before they are put back on the streets.
The state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation says that close to a third of California’s inmates have a serious mental illness. California has about 115,000 inmates in its prison system. It costs California taxpayers $75,000 a year to house each inmate, meaning California spends $2.8 billion every year warehousing prisoners with potentially treatable illnesses.
The lack of mental health parity affects the state’s school systems. The state has identified untreated behavior problems in children as one of the top reasons for poor academic performance. But California has not provided the funding necessary to help families receive treatment to help children with mental health issues.
Beall offers a simple means for fixing the problem. California’s health plans need to offer health care services for people with mental health illnesses that are equivalent to the services that are provided for people with any other medical condition.
Ensuring mental health parity is the law. It’s also a moral imperative that will save Californians money in the long run. Get it done.