CW: mentions of suicidal thoughts
May is recognized as Mental Health Month, a time to bring greater awareness to mental health as part of our overall wellness and provide resources to those struggling with mental illness.
We have a mental health crisis in the United States. According to a 2023 study by Mental Health America, 21 percent of adults were experiencing a mental illness in 2019-2020, which is equivalent to over 50 million people.1
Shockingly, 55 percent of adults with mental illness don't receive treatment — over 28 million individuals. Most who couldn’t receive the care they needed reported that it was because they could not afford it.2
As Chandler Dandrige in Jacobin writes, “Mental health care in the US is a disaster. The private insurance industry is a major reason why.”3 But it can be fixed.
Like the rest of our broken health care system, our mental health care crisis could be addressed by Medicare for All, which would guarantee mental health care services free at point of service, as well as lower drug prices through a single-payer system.
Sharing your personal story is a powerful way to show how Medicare for All could help solve this crisis. Here are some examples:
“There was a time after I had lost a job where I had no insurance. That meant I had no more access to psychotherapy or the medications I needed for my mental health issues... As a result, I ended up becoming very depressed, anxious, and suicidal and had to be admitted to the hospital. Because I was an inpatient there I was able to receive the medications I needed due to a special arrangement with the company that made the drug. Eventually, that benefit ran its course and I was without again. By that time I had a job with health insurance that would pay for my drugs, but offered very limited benefits for psychotherapy. It was only when I became disabled due to those same mental health issues that I was finally able to enroll in Medicare which covered my drugs and psychotherapy and even psychoanalysis. If we had had Medicare for All, my life would have been very different.” “I cared for a family member with a mental illness. I had to constantly try to navigate through the bizarre requirements of social services agencies, Social Security, and Medicaid. Years went by before I was able to get any assistance. My own financial future was threatened by paying medical bills out of pocket. Meanwhile, doctors prescribed drugs instead of certifying the family member for proven therapies. The drugs did nothing for the person; they served to only enrich drug companies. Finally, a wonderful doctor cleared the family member for a therapy that worked. This was a miracle! The family member is now able to work; however, if he becomes unable to work, he will once again be without health care.” |
It can be difficult to share personal experiences like these. But the more we talk about how our current, broken health care system has impacted us and how Medicare for All can help solve it, the more support we’ll build to achieve guaranteed health care — including mental health care — for all.
In solidarity,
Nurses’ Campaign to Win Medicare for All
P.S. — For more resources and support, you can visit https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/find-help
Sources:
1.“The State Of Mental Health In America 2023,” Maddy Reinert, Theresa Nguyen, and Danielle Fritze, Mental Health America, October 2022.
https://mhanational.org/issues/state-mental-health-america
2. Ibid.
3. “To Fix Mental Health Care, We Need Medicare for All,” Chandler Dandridge, Jacobin, April 28, 2023.
https://jacobin.com/2023/04/mental-health-care-private-insurance-medicare-for-all
 |
 |
 |
Email us: [email protected]
This email was sent to [email protected]. You can update your information here.
Email is the most important way we stay in touch with you. To receive fewer emails, click here. If you want to unsubscribe from our mailing list, you can remove yourself here.