Today, thousands of people in the US have some form of mental illness. As McGinty et al. (2016) observed, despite the fact that mental illness affects many Americans, there has been little effort to develop solutions. However, in the recent past, political leaders have indicated their commitment to securing the mental welfare of the American people. According to Ayano (2018), legislation is among the tools that leaders across the globe can use to tackle mental illness. Bill S.782 is one of the proposed laws whose enactment will see Americans with mental illness gain better access to social work and mental health services.
As noted above, mental illness afflicts many in the US. Figures shared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicate that almost 4% of Americans experienced some mental distress within 30 days before the CDC collected the data (CDC, 2017). Other figures show that as many as 20% of Americans are plagued by some form of mental disorder. These figures are indeed worrying and underscore the need for action. The challenge of mental illness is compounded bu the fact that many who are mentally ill are unable to access mental health services. Lake (2017) lamented that the US has failed to invest adequately in mental healthcare and as a result, access to essential services is limited for many.
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As already noted, Bill S.782 is a response to the poor access to mental health and social services. The bill has only been introduced in the Senate. There are numerous other stages that it must go through before it is enacted. Given the tendency by the legislature to bicker and squabble, it is highly unlikely that the bill will ever become law. This bill is among numerous policies that the US has adopted as it seeks to improve access to mental health care. HealthyPeople 2020 is among these policies. Essentially, the primary purpose of this policy is to “improve access to comprehensive, quality health care services” (ODPHP, 2019, par. 1). The main benefit of this policy is that if fully implemented, it will enhance access to a wide range of services, including mental health care. However, this policy is rather ambitious and calls for tremendous capital investment. On the other hand, the primary advantage of Bill S.782 is that it seeks modest and attainable changes. For example, its main provision is that it mandates social workers to provide the best possible quality of care to Medicare beneficiaries. This bill is held back by the low levels of political support. However, if its sponsor can marshal the required support, the bill can indeed become law and transform American mental health care delivery. Therefore, this bill receives full endorsement.
References
Ayano, G. (2018). Significance of mental health legislation for successful primary care for mental health and community mental health services: A review. African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine, 10 (1), 1429.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Mental health. CDC. Retrieved July 4, 2019 from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/mental-health.htm
Lake, J. (2017). Urgent need for improved mental health care and a more collaborative model of care. The Permanente Journal. doi: 10.7812/TPP/17-024
McGinty, E. E., Kennedy-Hendricks, A., Choksy, S., & Barry, C. L. (2016). Trends in the news media coverage of mental illness in the United States: 1995-2014.
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP). (2019). Access to health services. ODPHP. Retrieved July 4, 2019 from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/Access-to-Health-Services
